


Legend of Zelda: The Lost Temple

by tjumblr



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-27
Updated: 2015-04-16
Packaged: 2018-02-22 19:41:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 27,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2519513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tjumblr/pseuds/tjumblr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Archeology professor Minerva Link and her research assistants, Navi, Tatl, and newcomer Midna, discover an ancient journal leading to the famed Master Sword.  Unfortunately, she isn't the only one looking.  Can she get to the Blade of Evil's Bane before those who would seek to do it harm?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Grave Robbers

** Chapter 1: Grave Robbers. **

 

The young woman stood in the hallway of a small hotel and looked at the piece of scrap paper in her hand:

 

_Rm. 234_

_11:00am_

_Wear comfortable clothes. Be ready to work._

            She walked down the hallway away from the stairwell looking up at the room numbers on the small doors. She was, by no means, a spectacularly tall person, but the tops of the doors barely reached the bridge of her nose. The ceiling of the hall was merely two or three inches above her head and she couldn’t help but hunch over to keep from getting dizzy.

226, 228, 230…

Once she found the room she knocked on the door. Soon after, she heard footsteps from behind the door, which clicked and popped open.

“You must be Midna!” said the excited graduate student, hunched under the door frame. Her wavy black hair was slightly frizzy and was draped on each side of her square, dark olive-toned face. Her light blue sweater did a poor job bringing out her bespectacled green eyes, but no one in the room knew or cared.

“Yes, I am.” Midna nervously answered.

The woman in the room stepped aside and beckoned her in, “I’m Navi. Navi Rouhani. It’s nice to meet you!”   Like the doorway, everything in the room was small. The table in the corner only came to Midna’s shins and two beds seemed to be too short to accommodate an adult. Suitcases had been placed at the feet of the bed in a feeble attempt to extend them. Midna stepped forward so Navi could close the door.

“Navi…that’s a…” Midna tried to think of a better word than _unusual_ as she looked around.

“I know. It’s weird. My parents were expecting a boy, so they were going to name me Naveed, but when I came out a girl they decided to just chop off the last part and make up their own name.” Navi giggled as Midna awkwardly nodded. She was not sure why Navi was sharing this information. “I’m sorry,” Navi said, picking up on Midna’s unintentional signals, “I sometimes talk too much. TMI, that sort of thing. I’m trying to work on it…”

 _Thunk_. Navi was interrupted from a loud bang just past the bathroom door. The door opened as a man’s voice bellowed, “Giant-piss-monkey-shit-in-a-bucket…”

“Ahem,” Navi coughed, “Tatl! We’re not alone!” Midna couldn’t help but think that _Navi_ wasn’t that odd of a name anymore.

The man, Tatl, walked out of the bathroom wet and wearing a towel around his waist. He was rubbing his forehead and scowling, “What do you mean we…” He looked past his hand to Midna standing in the room. “Oh…uh…” He scrambled for a moment to cover himself, but not finding anything suitable within arms reach he quickly gave up, put his hands on his hips, and embraced it. Midna immediately noticed that almost everything about Tatl was big. He had to hunch over to keep his head from banging the ceiling. His blue eyes were big, the bridge of his nose was big, and his arms were big. The only things about him that were not big were his short sepia hair and his waist. Midna blushed. He looked at Navi, “I thought she was supposed to be here at 1:00?”

“No, Tatl,” Navi feigned politeness for Midna’s sake, “11:00. She was coming at 11:00. I told you this.”

“Oh…Well…I was half right,” Tatl said with a big toothy smile. He held out his hand for Midna, catching his towel before it fell, “I’m Tatl Van Bastian. Welcome to the Grave Robbers!”

“Midna” she said as Tatl shook her hand with such force that her whole body bounced. “Grave Robbers?”

“It’s an old joke,” Navi answered beside her, “What do you call a grave robber with connections?...archeologists…”

“Say,” Tatl started again, “I’ve never met a twil girl before.” He said as if he were admiring an animal at the zoo.

Tatl’s bluntness wore on Midna, who was no longer blushing, “…awesome.”  She was, indeed, twil. Her black _Indigo Go’s!_ t-shirt was carefully tattered around the sleeves and collar. Her black canvas backpack was covered with marker doodles and pins and patches with logos from relatively unknown bands. Her socks were black and purple and rose from her worn black leather boots up her legs past her knees. To top it all off, her hair was primarily short and died jet black except for a long orange-blonde swoop that fell in front of her heavily made-up eyes. 

“Could you please put some pants on?” Navi insisted to Tatl, still trying to remain polite.

“Yeah. Midna, do you mind?” He pointed to a messy bundle of clothes on the far end of the bed. She glared at them, and back at Tatl. She picked them up and forcefully passed them to him.

“Thanks!” He smiled again and darted back into the bathroom and closed the door.

“I’m really sorry about that.” Navi groaned as she sat down in the tiny table, gesturing for Midna to sit in the other chair. Midna sat across from Navi, having to bring her knees almost to her chest to do so making sitting no more comfortable than standing. “So, tell me about yourself.”

Midna shrugged, “I don’t know. Not much to tell.”

“I guess I could start, if you’d like?”

Midna shrugged again. She would have been comfortable with silence, though it was becoming clear that Navi wouldn’t be.

“Like I said, I’m Navi. I’ve been working with Professor Link for about five years, both years of my master’s the first three of my doctorate. Tatl came the year after I started. We don’t usually get undergrads; I think you’re only the fourth, and the first only lasted for about two weeks. There must be something about you that Link really likes.”

Midna’s eyebrows bounced as she shrugged one more time. She wasn’t sure about that, “What do you study?”

Navi’s eyes brightened, “I study a particular period of Hyrulian history. The Era of the Hero of Time, about 900 years ago. I primarily study cultures, religions, and the geopolitical structures that governed their society. Working with the professor has been great! I’ve never seen so much or learned so much so quickly. And all the pubs don’t hurt either,” Navi chuckled, “I’ve already had three of them. One as first author!”

Midna nodded absentmindedly. She and Navi must have a different definition of ‘pub.’ Navi continued, “I don’t really study the architecture of the time, but…I mean…you have to know some of it for it to work. It was primarily feudal, but a number of the institutions we have now have direct ties to life back then. In fact I wrote my Master’s thesis on…”

Tatl burst through the bathroom door again, causing Midna and Navi to start, “Don’t get her started if you know what’s good for you. You’ll never get her to stop.” He chuckled and sat on the nearest bed and put on his hiking boots.

“Why don’t you tell her what you study?” Navi said indignantly.

Tatl looked at Midna, “Masks.” He smiled at Navi who glared, “Religious masks. How they’re made. How they’re used. Etcetera. Kind of a material culture meets archeology sort of thing.” He said back to Midna, “How about you? How far along are you?”

“This will be my first semester with archeology.” She said. There was a heavy pause as Tatl and Navi turned to one another. If Midna didn’t know better, she would say that they were talking without making sounds or moving their mouth. “What?”

“You haven’t done any archeology work at all? No classes?” Tatl asked.

“No. Why?”

“I told you we don’t take undergrads often,” Navi nervously started, “Well, when we do they’re always fourth or fifth year seniors, people who have been studying archeology for that whole time. She’s never taken on someone who was just starting. I don’t know why Professor Link would…”

Tatl cut her off, “I am sure there’s a good reason. I don’t doubt Prof,” he then smiled and looked at Midna, “You must be something special.”

“Yeah. I guess.” Midna said. If this conversation was meant to make Midna feel comfortable it was an absolute failure. Navi and Tatl were trying to be nice and polite, but Midna still felt out of place. Navi and Tatl had been together with the professor for a long time. They had a natural rapport, a rapport of which Midna was not a part. “Where is the professor now?” She asked?

“Link went out to get the guide. We’re heading out to a new site today. Ancient temple—should be exciting.” Tatl said.

“I don’t know about ancient, it’s only 1000 years old or so.” Navi corrected.

“What’s the professor like?” Midna asked. Professor Link was pretty well known, and Midna wanted to know if the rumors were true.

Navi furrowed her thick eyebrows trying to think of the right words to say. Tatl jumped in, “Prof’s really good. Probably the best I’ve worked with. Definitely the kind of person who’s respect you have to earn, though. Doesn’t talk much.”

“The professor can seem scary at first, I know I thought so,” Navi consoled, “but don’t worry. Just take care of your job and you’ll be fine.”

The conversation continued for some time. The minutes passed slowly as Tatl and Navi talked about where they were from and the research they’ve performed. Navi remaining cordial and Tatl cracking jokes while packing a large backpack. Midna listened intently as they spoke but volunteered as little about herself as she could. After what seemed like hours, but in reality was probably more like 30 minutes or so, the hotel door opened abruptly, “We ready to go?”

Tatl and Navi looked to the door, “Prof!” Tatl exclaimed, “Almost got the bag ready to go. Just got to add the food.”

On the other side of the door stood a brawny woman with her dirty-blonde hair in a clumsy braid behind her. Her green canvas shirt, complete with rolled up sleeves, matched her green eyes. Midna noticed a holster on her hip, but instead of a gun it held two small cylinders. She ducked below the door frame and took control of the room, “Good. I’ve found a new guide who can lead us through the Lost Woods.”

“Another one? What happened to Dago?” Navi asked, concerned.

“Probably got tired of hanging around us while we aimlessly wandered in the forest.” Tatl suggested chuckling. Link shot him a critical but confirming glare.

“How long have you been looking for this temple?” Midna quietly asked Navi.

“About two weeks now. Three? Two? Two.” Tatl loudly responded.

“He is waiting outside for us. We’d better get going.” Link said and turned to leave.

“Oh, Professor, this is Midna. She’s the new undergrad.” Navi said while standing and gesturing to Midna. Link turned in the doorway and met Midna’s eyes. She gave a curt nod and walked out of the room. Tatl gathered up the large backpack and ducked out of the room saying, “Like I said: few words.”

 

* * *

 

Midna, Tatl, and Navi caught up to Link outside of the hotel; she was at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the hotel door talking to a disgruntled redheaded child. When the trio approached, Link turned to them, “This is Faso. He’ll be our guide through the forest today. The good news is we’ve narrowed down where we think the ruin is located.”

“Let me guess,” Tatl said, adjusting the large backpack, “It’s far away.”

“That’s right. Any questions before we leave?”

“Uhm…” Midna gingerly raised her hand, “Are we sure it’s a good idea to let a child guide us?” She gestured to Faso, “I mean, this could be dangerous, right?”

“Kid,” Faso groaned, “I’ve been leading people in the Lost Woods since before you were born.”

Tatl tried to hide his chuckling. Navi leaned over and spoke, “Kokiri don’t age the same way as other people. Their adults usually look like children.”

“We weren’t staying in a tiny hotel because we can’t afford a full sized one.” Tatl joked, “Though, with our funding, we can’t even really afford a mini hotel.” Faso looked at Link with concern, and she reassured him that he was, indeed, being paid for his work.

“With nothing else…” Link paused, waiting for more questions, “Let’s go.”

The group walked through the forest behind the hotel. The trees were so dense that the intense sunlight of the day couldn’t quite get through. The path was covered with shadows and it was sometimes difficult for Midna to see. She followed behind Navi, Link, and Faso, who was riding on Link’s shoulders, talking into Link’s ear and pointing. It seemed like Faso was leading them in circles, but every time he was questioned (by Midna) he said something about “following the music.”

After a few hours, Midna’s energy was waning. Link, Navi, and Faso started to pull away from Midna until they were yards ahead of her. Tatl, who was bringing up the rear, caught up to her, “Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” she moaned, “Just didn’t expect this much hiking.”

“The note said we were going to be in the field, didn’t it?”

“No, it said _be ready to work_. It didn’t say what kind of work.”

“Oh…”

“I brought a laptop and a spiral notebook.” She hit her backpack with her elbow.

Tatl laughed, “They’ll come in handy later.” He paused, trying to assess Midna’s mood while she was intent on revealing as little as possible. “At least you’re wearing boots.”

“They’re all for show. I’ve got, like, three blisters already.”

Tatl was taken aback, “Why haven’t you said anything? We have a first aid kit, we could get you fixed up.”

“I don’t like complaining. And I don’t want to slow everyone down.”

“Anything else I should know?”

“Well, I haven’t eaten since this morning.” This was a lie; Midna hadn’t eaten since the night before. Her stomach was starting to groan.

Tatl smiled, “That, I can do something about.” Without slowing down, he reached into the side pocket of the backpack and pulled out a wrapped protein bar, “Here, all yours.”

Midna took the bar, opened the package, and rammed the food into her mouth. It was sweet and stuck to her teeth.

“Listen,” Tatl said, in an unfamiliar sincere tone, “I feel like we got off on the wrong foot. I just wanted to say sorry about that.”

“mmhmm” Midna couldn’t speak with the protein bar in her mouth. She tried to peel the chocolate and granola off her teeth to acknowledge the effort Tatl was making.

“Oh, yeah,” Tatl noticed her trouble and reached into the backpack, “Here.” He handed Midna a bottle of water.

 

* * *

 

Link looked back at Midna and Tatl, Midna was eating a protein bar while Tatl held a water bottle beside her. The two of them were laughing, and it was the first time anyone in the group had seen Midna smile. As they reached a small clearing, Navi leaned over to Link, “Professor, mind if I talk to you for a bit?”

Link nodded, “Faso, can I put you down?”

“Yeah, sure. If you want to rest here I’ll move ahead. I think we’re close.” Link and Navi stopped walking, and Link knelt down and let Faso jump off her. He jogged off and cut between trees, and was now out of sight. Link turned back to Tatl and Midna to watch them catch up, but instead they had stopped walking too. Midna was taking off her boot and Tatl was digging through the backpack’s outside pocket.

“Professor,” Navi started, “Can I ask you a question?”

“Always” Link said, still watching Midna and Tatl.

“Remember what you said before you left this morning?”

“Yeah.”

“You said ‘don’t let Tatl hit on the undergrad.”

“I know. I say that every time we get an undergrad.”

“Yeah,” Navi was wringing her hands, “It’s just…It's just this time you meant it.” Link turned to look at Navi for the first time. Navi looked serious and adjusted her glasses, “Professor, she’s never had an archeology class before. She hasn’t written anything worthwhile, She doesn’t know what she’s doing.”

“You don’t like her?”

“Do you?” Navi was abrupt with this question. Link’s eyes narrowed. “I mean, usually an undergrad arrives and you at least introduce yourself. Heck, sometimes you even say a full sentence to them. But this one shows up, this one that you _really_ don’t want Tatl to get close to, this one with no archeology experience, and you don’t say anything to her? Professor,” Navi leaned in, “Why is she here?”

Link’s jaw clenched as she glared at Navi. Navi was always perceptive; it was one of the things Link appreciated about her. It made her a good research assistant and a good archeologist, but it had its drawbacks. It wouldn’t be long before Navi figured everything out, and only if Link told her in person could Link control her reaction. Link considered it for a moment before opening her mouth, “Tatl, Midna,” she called before turning her head to them, “What’s going on?”

Tatl called back as Midna tied her tall boots, “Basic first aid; no problem!”

“Then hurry up.” Link locked eyes with Navi before walking away to sit on a fallen tree. Navi sat down on a nearby rock. Soon, Tatl came to them, carrying the backpack on his back and Midna in his arms.

“Tatl, I’m sure Midna can walk on her own,” Navi said reproachfully. Despite Link’s cold non-answers, Navi took her request to keep Tatl from flirting with Midna to heart.

“Calm down, mom,” Tatl responded as she set Midna down on Link’s log, “She has a couple of blisters. I figured as long as we were taking a break I’d carry her.

“It wasn’t my idea.” Midna said as Tatl sat on the ground across the clearing from Midna. He passed protein bars to the other members of the group. Tatl did most of the talking for the group, though Midna and Navi would chime in every now and then.

After everyone had finished their food and drank a little water, Faso came back to the clearing. “Alright, I think I found your ruins.”

“Damn,” Tatl joked, “I wish we had you from the beginning.”

“Would you like a protein bar, Faso?” Navi asked courteously.

“I don’t eat that crap,” Faso turned her down, less courteously, “Let’s get going  I don't want to be out after dark.” Faso hurried them up. Tatl was the first to pop up. He went to Midna and offered her a hand, but she made a point to stand on her own. While he darted back to put the backpack on, Link and Navi stood, ready to follow Faso.

After perhaps an hour or so, Faso lead them through an immensely dense patch of trees and up a large hill. “Ladies and gentleman, your temple.” Faso pointed un-ceremonially. The rest of the group, who had fallen behind in the thick trees, reached the top of the hill one by one. When they arrived, they found a large clearing in the trees. The stone temple towered over the trees, and was built up on yet another mound. Even though the foliage growing up the walls camouflaged the temple well, Tatl made a remark about how he couldn’t believe that they didn’t see it before.

Midna stepped forward into the clearing and tripped on a huge stone plate on the ground. She quickly pushed herself up, nothing hurt but her pride and some scuffed hands.

“Professor, look,” Navi said, pointing at the stone tablet, “There’s been quite a bit of erosion, but you can clearly see the Triforce symbol.”

“How is it so well preserved? Is this from the same period as the temple?” Link asked.

“Looks like it,” Navi responded, “It’s not uncommon for temples of this period to be relatively well preserved, but this one seems to have endured better than the others. Especially considering they haven’t been actively preserved by the surrounding population.”

“Hey, ladies?” asked Tatl, “What is the symbol in the middle? I don’t recognize it.” Link and the graduate students continued to investigate the plate as Midna took some steps toward the temple.

“Uh, guys?”

“What, Midna?” Link called, not looking up from the plate.

“How are we gonna get up there?”


	2. The Forest Temple

** Chapter 2: The Forest Temple **

Midna turned to face the group, who were all kneeling on the stone plate. The temple towered behind her. When the group approached the temple, the flora growing up the stone walls of the temple had blended it with the rest of the forest. Now that they were close, it was now apparent that the door to the temple was several feet up the wall. At least a full story up. If stairs had ever lead up to the door, they had long eroded away, leaving a small platform in front of the door but nothing other way to get there.

"Uh…shit…" Link put her hands on her hips as she stood and scanned the area for a way up to the door.

"Too bad that tree's gone," said Tatl, pointing to the rotting tree stump next to the platform, "we could have climbed it up."

"I don't know. The trees around here don't tend to have low branches…even if the tree was still here, we might not be able to…" Navi looked at Tatl who was smirking at her, "Oh…You were joking." Tatl wiped the dirt from his hands as he stood and helped Navi to her feet.

Link walked up to the bottom of the eroded staircase. She ran her fingers up the walls, tugging on the vines that climbed the walls. She deduced that you couldn't climb up them and called behind her, "Tatl, come here." Once Tatl was close, Link turned and smirked to him, "Drop the pack."

"You don't mean…" Tatl said, with mock grief.

"Yep. Pyramid Time." She said with a smirk. Tatl sighed, took the backpack off his back, and leaned it against the wall.

Navi looked excited and dropped her book bag next to it on the wall. Midna followed suit before whispering to Navi, "What's 'Pyramid Time' mean?"

Navi giggled, "Well, this isn't the first time we've come to a site where we couldn't quite reach where we needed to go. We used to have to carry a collapsible ladder with us everywhere, but it was really heavy and cumbersome. Then, we discovered Tatl had a secret past."

"Secret past?" Midna whispered and looked back at Tatl and Link. Link was standing close in front of Tatl. Tatl grabbed link around the waist and counted, bouncing his body slightly as he did, "Okay. One…Two…Three." On three, Link jumped in the air, pushed up by Tatl. She jumped high over Tatl's head. She came down, her feet landing on Tatl's waiting hands. With another crouching bounce, Tatl sent Link flying. She easily reached the ledge. She grabbed on and pulled herself up. Midna's eyes darted between Tatl and Link.

Navi giggled again, "Tatl used to be a cheerleader."

"Of course he was." Midna muttered under her breath. Navi walked to the same position Link was previously standing. Tatl grabbed Navi around the waist, they bounced three times, and Tatl tossed her into the air. This time, instead of tossing her again, he caught Navi's feet, and held her up, allowing Link to pull her up. Once she was up on the ledge, Link called down, "Alright, Midna. You're up."

Midna shook her head, "I'm fine down here. I'll just investigate the…" Midna pointed to the large stone plate.

"We all go." Link interrupted. Her voice was calm, but it was obvious that there would be no arguing. Midna groaned under her breath and got into position in front of Tatl.

"Okay, so, I'll grab you here," Tatl lightly put his hands on Midna's waist, "Count to three, and…"

"Yeah, I got it." Midna put her hands on top of Tatl's.

"Okay, ready?"

"Yeah."

Tatl grabbed tightly, "Okay. One…two…three!" On three, Tatl tossed Midna into the air. He tried to grab Midna's feet, but her knees gave out and she started to fall. Tatl jumped into action, and caught Midna before she hit the ground, "Hello again," he chuckled.

"Come _on_ , Tatl." Link called.

Tatl put Midna down, gave her some advice, and the two got ready to go again. "One…two…three!" This time they were successful. Midna stood on Tatl's outstretched hands and Navi and Link pulled her up. Midna crawled onto the platform, scraping her knees as she did.

"Did anyone else notice these four holes on the platform?" She asked as she stood.

"Hey!" Tatl called as he handed Navi her backpack, "What about me? How do I get up?"

"We'll look around inside for something. For now, stay there. Keep Faso company." Link instructed.

"What happened to 'we all go?"

"Yeah," Link smirked, " _we_ all go. _You_ stay there. It'll only be a couple minutes. Can't be more than thirty." Tatl groaned, looked at Faso, and pulled a deck of cards out of his pocket as Navi gingerly opened the door to the temple. As the women walked, Midna could hear Tatl talking.

"So, Faso. What's your game?"

"Same as my drink."

"Please don't say 'hearts."

"Gin."

"Okay. Gin."

* * *

Midna and Navi followed Link into the large, overgrown lobby of the temple. A large hole in the roof of the room had allowed for grass to grow on the ground and vines to grow on the walls. After admiring the room for a few moments, but not finding anything to help Tatl climb into the temple, the group moved on. Through the next door was a dark, dank hallway, also overgrown with vines. Navi remarked again at the odd state of the temple. No one had cared for it, or tried to preserve it, how was it still standing? As they got to the end of the hallway, Link shushed them, and forcibly gestured for them to get against the wall. The door at the end of the hallway had rotted through and fallen down, so the three had a view of the large central chamber, and what they saw surprised them.

Large, leather clad brutes were rampaging in the large room. Each one wore thick leather jackets with spikes on the shoulders and sleeves and a large patch with a skull and swords on the back. They all wore helmets with visors, many in the shapes of horned skulls. Two of them called to the others and carried in a large metal chest from a door on the opposite side of the room. They dropped it down the stairs, which lead to the door with multiple loud thuds. The chest stayed in tact.

"Who are they?" Navi whispered.

"Stalfos," Link answered, "Biker gang. They usually just harass people on the highways or outside Hyrule City. I've never seen them this far away from the roads before."

"They're expanding?" Navi said.

"I doubt it." Midna said, "Why would they come out here? They get their money though burglary, drug running, and extortion. There's no one out here to extort." Navi and Link slowly turned to her, unable to hide their shock at Midna's knowledge on the subject. "What?" Midna asked, "I used to be a criminal justice major."

"I wish we found a way to bring Tatl up." Link said.

"We should go back. Get the authorities." Navi suggested.

"No," Link answered without considering it, "Look at all the damage their doing." The Stalfos were causing a lot of damage. The doors that did not open on their own were kicked down. And now a large group of them were banging on the chest with clubs and trying to pry it open with crowbars. "No. This stops here."

Link pulled one of the small black cylinders out of her holster. She pressed a button with her thumb and the cylinder, which turned out to be a baton, expanded with a few clicks. She folded the handle over, forming an L shape, and slid it down. She held that baton in her right hand so that the length of the weapon ran down her arm. She grabed the other cylinder, another baton, and with a flick of her wrist it expanded with a series of clicks.

"Are you kidding?" Midna yelled in a whisper. "Look at them! There has to be at least seven of them in there, maybe more throughout the temple! They've got clubs and guns, and you're going to go in there with a couple of sticks?"

"I also have Navi," she nodded toward Navi behind them, who was pulling a slingshot and a bag of metal pellets out of her backpack.

"Sticks and a slingshot?" Midna croaked, "Are you kidding? You'll die! And why do you even _have_ those?"

"Sometimes we go places where there are predators. We've never seen anything like this."

"See, _see?"_ Midna shot a look back at Link, "Navi's right. Leave this to people who know what they're doing!"

Link ignored her, "Navi, cover me. Midna, stay here out of sight. This could get ugly, and I don't want you getting…"

"What? No! If you're going to do this, than I'm gonna…"

"Stay here, out of sight. That's final." Link poked Midna in the chest. Midna looked at Navi for support but only got a halfhearted shrug. Navi clearly agreed with Link. With a huff, she crossed her arms and sat against the wall. Link watched her slouch against the wall and turned to Navi, "you ready?"

"Yeah, I guess," Navi responded as she readied the first metal pellet in her slingshot. Link nodded and silently stalked out of the hallway.

By this point, the Stalfos were now gathered around the chest trying to open it. Link walked slowly to the group, slightly crouched and twirling the long, straight baton in her left hand. "Does this sort of thing happen a lot?" Midna asked Navi, who readied herself to let her pellet fly at Link's signal.

"No. This is the first time." Navi whispered, "We've seen wolfos before, but never anything like this."

Midna watched as Link reached the group, still unnoticed, "Well, at least she has the element…"

Link tapped the closest Stalfos on the helmet. Once he turned to face her, she waved at him.

"Never mind…"

The Stalfos Link tapped took a swing at her with his fist. Link easily dodged the attack and exploded into a flurry of swinging batons. With two swift strikes, the first Stalfos fell, holding his side and leg. Link blocked a blow from a crowbar beside her with her right baton, and attacked with the left. Three strikes, another Stalfos was on the floor. They tried to surround her, but she quickly spun, forcing the Stalfos to take a step back, clearing some space for her.

Navi let fly her first pellet. It struck the visor of one Stalfos' helmet, which he took off to investigate. Another pellet made contact with his ear, causing it to bleed, and he doubled over.

More Stalfos poured into the room. Midna lost count of how many, each holding some sort of weapon. Some Stalfos drew firearms, but they were unable to use them for fear of firing on their own who were now surrounding Link. Those who got close enough to shoot without the danger of friendly fire were either nocked by Navi's metal pellets, attacked by Link, or both.

The whirlwind of Link's attacks moved faster than anyone could track. She was swift, but managed to attack in a way that didn't knock out (or kill) the Stalfos. They hall was filled with the sounds of pained moaning as more and more Stalfos lined the floors.

"Fuck this, Let's go!" One Stalfos made the call to retreat. Those who could still stand, including a few who hadn't tried to fight Link yet, gathered their fallen comrades and hurried toward the exit. As they approached, Navi hid as well as she could by the inner door, but none of the Stalfos even glanced at her in their rushed retreat. Link watched them run, not seeing a Stalfos currently lying on the ground behind her reach for a handgun. He aimed as he pulled himself off the ground, no longer caring about his allies in his way. Link turned to the sound of a "thunk" and saw Midna standing behind the falling Stalfos holding a black club. She dropped it as soon as the Stalfos hit the ground. One of his allies scooped him up in front of Midna and ran off, muttering something about "dumbass kid." As they ran off, Link stormed over to Midna, collapsing the batons and holstering them, "I told you to stay back!"

"I stayed hidden, what does it matter where I was?" Midna retorted.

"I said stay back!" Link yelled as she pointed at Midna as she finished with her holster, "When I say 'stay back,' you stay back, am I understood?"

"Are you forgetting about how he was going to shoot you?"

"Am I understood?"

"You're welcome for…"

"No, no. None of that. If we're in the field I need to you do what I say! I need you to stay safe!"

Midna pointed to the exit without breaking eye contact with Link, "They all ran out that way anyway. If I were hiding up there, they would have…"

Navi called from the top of the stairs that lead into the great hall, "Uh, guys!"

" _What?"_ Link and Midna called back at the same time.

"Tatl!"

Link and Midna's eyes shot from Navi to each other. Then, with no more words, they both ran toward the entrance to the temple. Link shot out ahead of Midna and caught up to Navi before she had even reached the end of the adjoining hallway. Midna did her best to keep up, but with her blistered feet, she couldn't help but limp in her run.

Link reached the ledge outside the temple first, followed by Navi. "Tatl!" She called.

"Here! Here!" He walked out from behind the stump with his hands up.

"Thank the goddess." Link put her hand on her heart and tried to catch her breath.

Midna reached the door, "Tatl!"

"I'm here, we're all okay!" Midna seemed to chuckle as she caught her breath and slid down the wall until she was sitting on the ledge, her feet burning.

"Faso and I were playing cards when we thought we heard you coming back. Then, we notice that there were _a lot of boots_. I grabbed Faso and hid, and watched those guys attach the ladder and run off." He pointed to the chain ladder seemed to be drilled into the platform.

"That's what those four holes were!" Midna realized.

"I was wondering how they got in there." Navi added.

Tatl chuckled, "A lot of them didn't even bother with the ladder, they just jumped down. Or, just threw others of them down. You must have scared them half to death."

"You licked 'em good, didn't you?" Faso laughed, nodding at Link. Link smirked and nodded. Faso continued, "And you didn't get a scratch on you! You're good, you are." Link shrugged.

"They were flying for how much they were limping," Tatl pondered.

"Must be the adrenalin. It won't last long. We'll be able to get past them fast enough," Faso said, gathering himself to move again, "We'll head them off at the village, get the guard to take 'em in. Who took the first swing."

"You kidding? They did. And thank you for the offer, Faso, but we'll be staying here" Link smirked as she produced her cell phone from her pocket, "I'll call the village guard and alert them to the Stalfos…"

"No go, Prof." Tatl called, "We already tried. Phones don't work here. Wifi hotspots are a no go either. We're totally off the grid."

"Forest does that." Faso added.

"Alright then." Link groaned as she put her phone away. "We'll set up camp just inside. If you could, after you alert the authorities, arrange for the rest of our equipment to be brought from the hotel to this location?"

Faso's face contorted as he thought, "Eh, that's gonna be extra."

"That's fine."

"Sure thing. Wont get here until tomorrow."

"That's fine. Thank you." Faso nodded and then took off into the forest. Link turned to Navi, "Navi, help Tatl set up camp in here. The ground is dirt and grass, so it should be fine to pitch the tent here, and I'd be more comfortable if we can sleep in an enclosed space with the ladder rolled up. Midna," She shot a look at Midna, a look that said she hadn't forgotten their earlier shouting match, "Come with me. I want to see what the Stalfos were after."

Midna and Link walked in heavy silence to the large hall, and the dented metal chest at the far end of it. Once they arrived, Link pulled an old key on a silver chain out of her shirt.

"What's that?"

"We found it at another site. It's a long story, but it's the reason we came here. It's the reason we _know_ about here." Link inspected a symbol on the key and the lock of the chest. After they noticed that they matched, she inserted the key, but stopped short of turning it. She turned to Midna, "Midna, look," she took in a deep breath, "As far as you are concerned, I'm here for two reasons: To keep you safe, and to help you learn. In order for both to happen, you need to listen to me." Midna opened her mouth to interrupt, but Link cut her off, "I appreciate that you want to help, and I know you don't like being treated like a child."

"You don't know anything about me."

"No one wants to be treated like a child," Link said with a smirk, "but you have to know that _I know more about this than you._ If this arrangement is going to work, you have to trust me. Can you trust me?"

Without speaking, Midna rolled her eyes and nodded slightly.

"Okay, now, lets see what they wanted so badly." Link clicked the lock of the chest and opened it. Was another large wooden box, which opened to reveal a fabric pillow surrounding a large, red leather bound book. Link reached into her shirt pocket and produced two white, cloth gloves. She put them on and pulled out the book, handling it as if it were the most precious, fragile thing in the world.

"What is it?" Midna asked.

Link opened the book, and read from the first page. "It's a journal. A sort of last memoir."

"Of who?"

"Princess Zelda."

 

* * *

 

The next day progressed without much excitement. That is, without much excitement for Midna. The handwritten journal belonged to Princess Zelda; the problem was, no one knew _which_ Princess Zelda. The royal family had never been particularly creative when naming children, and a Princess Zelda had been a member of the family for more than twelve centuries. Luckily, it didn’t take long for Link and Navi to date the journal. Navi just about exploded when they discovered that the journal was around eight and a half centuries old, which meant it came from the tail end of the Era of the Hero of Time.

Faso and a crew of Kokiri brought the rest of the crew’s luggage and equipment early in the morning. They brought news that the 19 members of the Stalfos biker gang had been rounded up and extradited to Hyrule City for trial. After the bags were safely tucked in the tent, Navi and Link explored the temple as best they could. It seemed, however, that every time they entered a new room, they couldn’t explore more than a few feet before they were met with wide chasms and tall ledges. Link made a comment that perhaps the trouble they had at the entrance was intentional. Perhaps the difficulty of navigating the temple was its way of keeping people out.

Tatl, who did not study on the Era of the Hero of Time, focused on keeping up the campsite and identifying the mysterious symbol that appeared throughout the temple. Tatl buried himself in any relevant text he could find. But even that seemed exciting compared to Midna’s assignment.

Midna was charged with translating the journal. The language used by the journal’s Zelda was incredibly old and incredibly dead. Midna first positioned the book on a group of oddly shaped pillows and took a picture of each page with a special camera that was, according to Navi, designed to not harm or warp the parchment or ink. After taking a picture of each page, Midna had to use a portable printer to print two copies of each page. The pages were still printing when Midna started translating the first page. It was a slow process: sitting on her cot, cross-referencing symbols between the journal and the textbook Link gave her.

“Why two copies?” Midna asked Tatl as he looked through a bag of books.

“Probably one for Link to read and one for you to translate.” He answered absentmindedly.

“What do you mean ‘one for Link to read?’ How can she read one before I translate it?”

“Oh, Link can read ancient Hylan.”

Midna dropped her pencil and glared at Tatl, “What?”

“Yeah. She can actually read a bunch of old languages. Comes naturally to her.”

“Then why am I translating this thing?” she gestured to the still working printer.

“Because the rest of us can’t read ancient Hylan fluently.” Midna groaned and rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands. Tatl continued, “Sorry, Midna, all of us had to do it. Once you get the hang of it, it won’t take long. I promise.” As Tatl spoke, Midna flopped over on her cot, resting her eyes. “Hey, what book are you using?”

“This one.” Midna felt around for the book with her hand, eyes still closed. When she found it, she held it up, not caring that she lost her place. Tatl took it and looked at the cover.

“You’re using Cooper?”

“It’s the one Link gave me.”

“She’s okay. But…” Tatl searched through the bag of books, “Here. I like Wu a lot better. The information is just…laid out better.” He handed the new book to Midna, who took it without looking.

“Thanks. How’s the search for the symbol going?”

“Eh, not great. If I had an idea of what _kind_ of symbol it was, it would help. I’ve been looking through family crests, thinking maybe a wealthy family helped build the thing, but I’m not having any luck.”

“Any chance it means ‘Forest Temple?”

Tatl laughed, “That would be pretty…” he stopped midsentence and paused for a moment. Then, with a burst of energy, dug through the book bag, pulled on out, and ran to the entrance of the tent, “I have to go!” He yelled as he ran off.

Midna didn’t see anyone until dinner. As they ate the bland stew Tatl had cooked on a propane camp oven, Navi checked over Midna’s translation work, “This symbol, it actually means ‘time’ in this context, not ‘light.’ Easy mistake to make.” She handed the page back to Midna. Midna curtly thanked her as she took the page back. Navi and Tatl said she had done a pretty good job, but Midna couldn’t help but notice all the red marks covering her paper.

Link asked where the spare copy was, and after Midna told her she informed the group that she would be reading it over the next day.

The conversation was lively. Tatl informed the group that he had found the meaning behind the symbol, and said something about a “forest sage,” which meant something to Navi and Link, but not Midna. Link and Navi talked about what they had found in the temple, and a jealous Tatl listened intently. Midna listened to the conversation, but didn’t contribute. She was still feeling out of her element, which compounded her natural introverted tendencies. After they ate, Tatl grabbed a black notebook, a red notebook, and some pencils and followed Navi back into the temple. Link bound the extra working copy of the journal and sat next to the still glowing fire.

“You’ve done good work today, Midna,” she said as she turned to the first page of writing, “Keep it up tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? What do you want me to do for the rest of the day?”

“Take a break. Relax.” Link said with a smile.

“But, Navi and Tatl are still working.” Midna pointed to the temple.

“Navi and Tatl are dorks.” Link chuckled.

“You’re still working.”

“I’m a dork.” Midna didn’t move for a moment. Link continued, “I saw that you brought some headphones. Listen to some music. Take a load off. Translating and transcribing any manuscript is hard. Especially when you don’t know the language. If you don’t take it easy from time to time, you’re gonna get burned out.”

Midna made a motion to protest.

“Or keep working. It’s up to you.”

Midna took a beat to gather her thoughts. She didn’t like being held to a lower standard than others, like she couldn’t handle what was actually expected of her, but at the same time, she really didn’t want to transcribe anymore. With a sigh, she walked into the tent, grabbed her phone and earbuds, and exited the tent. She walked out the door onto the ledge overlooking what Tatl and Navi were now calling the Sacred Meadow. She turned her music on, dangled her feet off the ledge, and watched the colors of the sky change as the day turned to twilight. The orange and purple clouds of her favorite time of day rejuvenated her, and as much as she hated to admit it, taking a break was the right thing to do. Once the orange had transitioned to purple, deep blue, and finally white-speckled black, Midna returned to the tent.

* * *

 

The next two days were very similar for Midna. She spent the whole day hanging around the tent translating the journal. It was a slow process, and it didn’t seem to get faster. The Princess Zelda that wrote the journal must have been quite the windbag, because after two days Midna still had not gotten past the journal’s introduction. (Who writes an introduction to a personal journal?) Navi and Tatl disappeared into the temple in the morning, came back for a couple minutes around noon for lunch, disappeared again, and returned for dinner full of stories about what they had seen. Link lurked around the campsite, her nose buried in the spare working copy of the journal, though she did not share what she learned at dinner.

After dinner both nights, Midna grabbed her phone and earbuds and went to the ledge to unwind. On the second night, just as the sky started to turn orange, Midna was interrupted.

“This seat taken?”

Midna pulled out her earbuds and looked behind her to see Tatl standing beside her holding his notebooks, “No. That’s fine.”

Tatl plopped down next to Midna, his large feet dangling off the ledge and swinging back and forth. “This is nice,” he said, admiring the view of the sky over the trees, “I can see why you’ve been disappearing out here.”

“I haven’t been disappearing.” Midna said with playful offense.

“You’ve been disappearing.”

“Well, what about you and Navi?”

“What?”

“You two disappear into the temple every day and don’t come back until dinner.”

“We’re doing our jobs.” Tatl laughed and pointed to Midna’s phone, “How do you still have battery?”

“I brought a solar charger. I charge it during the day, while you and Navi are disappeared in the temple.”

Tatl laughed heartedly, which caused a slight smile on Minda’s face, “Okay, okay. Touché.”

The two sat and watched the sky for a moment before Midna motioned to Tatl’s notebooks, “What are those?”

“Oh, this is where I take notes on the temple.” He handed the red notebook to Midna. She opened it and, instead of seeing row upon row of written notes, she saw incredibly detailed sketches of the rooms inside the temple. Midna audibly reacted to the beautiful pencil drawings before her, “You did these?”

“Yeah. Navi takes the boring notes, I take these.”

“These are beautiful,” Midna said with a smile, “but, why not take photographs? Wouldn’t they be more accurate?

“Well, we take photographs too. But, they don’t capture the temple’s life like these do. They work together.”

Midna couldn’t help but roll her eyes, “capture the temple’s life?”

“Yeah.” Tatl said seriously but with a smile.

Midna thumbed through the notebook and instantly remembered the stories Tatl and Navi told over dinner: the tiles on the walls with the creepy eyeball reliefs, the rooms with tall ledges and jagged walls, the crumbling roof, which made sunbeams in the pollen of the plants growing inside. Tatl had captured them all.

“How did you learn to do this?”

“It was my major as an undergrad. I doubled in art and art history. Other than that, I’ve always sort of drawn all over everything growing up.” Midna saw the black notebook now sitting between him and her. She reached for it.

“More notes?”

“Oh, no. No no no!” Tatl tried to protest, but Midna had already snatched the notebook away from him and had opened it to the first page. The page contained a drawing, but it wasn’t of a building, or plant, or sculpture, but a young woman.

“Is this Navi?” Midna asked unnecessarily. The woman in the detailed pencil portrait looked like Navi but a with a few small differences. She looked a bit younger, the glasses she wore were a slightly different shape, and a scarf covered her thick wavy hair.

“Yeah. That was from a couple weeks after I met her. She caught me doodling and soon said it would be okay if I drew her. I was complaining about not having any models.”

“What is she wearing?”

“It’s a religious thing, I can’t remember the name. She doesn’t wear it anymore, but I never asked why. I figured she had her reasons. Navi is honestly one of the smartest people I know, she doesn’t really do anything without a reason…”

As Tatl continued to dote on Navi, Midna turned through the pages of the sketchbook. It was filled with drawings of people. Navi’s face, hands and feet that looked like Tatl’s, several pages that had three or four less detailed gesture drawings each. Midna noticed something was missing, “Why no drawings of Link?”

“I never got her permission. I’m not going to draw people who don’t say it’s okay. I’m not a total creep.”

Midna nodded and turned the page, there was the face of a girl she didn’t recognize. She looked about Midna’s age, maybe a little older. She had soft features, large eyes, and, even though the picture was not in color, blonde hair.

“Who’s this?”

“That’s Ilia. She was our first undergraduate research assistant. She wasn’t here long; she had to leave her assignment early. Family thing, I think.”

“She’s cute.” Midna accusingly said.

“Yeah, well…” Tatl dropped off.

“I heard Link and Navi talking. They are supposed to keep you from hitting on me. Supposedly, that’s something you do a lot.”

Tatl blushed, “They make me sound like I prey on younglings.” Tatl joked as Midna eyed him with a mock caution. Tatl continued, “I’m nice, and I have a sense of humor. That being said, I won’t cross any lines that shouldn’t be crossed, or, in the case of relationships with other people, lines they don’t want me to cross. I don’t hit on all the undergrads…”

Midna turned pages as Tatl talked. There were only a few of Ilia. After more of Navi, including the first few without the headscarf, there was a portrait of a boy. He was tall, thin, and had pointed features. In his portrait, he had a wide smile.

“Who’s this?”

“That’s Pipit. Now, _him_ I hit on. But he hit on me first.” Tatl chuckled.

“Oh, I didn’t know you were…”

“What?”

“Gay.”

“Bi.”

“What?”

Tatl sighed and smiled, “I’m bi, not gay.”

“Oh, I didn’t know.” Midna embarrassingly admitted.

“How could you? I never told you.” Tatl laughed it off. It was clear that Tatl had come out as bi several times, and he placed a trust in Midna of which she wasn’t aware. Midna couldn’t help but smile, knowing that Tatl trusted her. Tatl reached for the notebook “Pipit was kind of a firecracker: huge flirt, really funny, really…uh…actually, we should probably skip the next few pages.” Tatl snatched the notebook, nervously flipped forward in the notebook, and handed it back to Midna. The temptation to turn back the pages was overwhelming, but Midna didn’t want to betray the trust that Tatl had shown. She moved forward. Navi got older and started to smile more. Midna came across another woman, this one with long flowing hair.

“That’s Cremia. Girl from my homeland,” joked Tatl.

“Homeland?” Midna asked.

“Termina. Though, I grew up in Clock City and she was a farm girl, it was nice to talk with someone who wasn’t from Hyrule.”

“Did you hit on her too?”

Tatl laughed, “No. We did talk a lot, but only because we shared a similar background. She was way too serious for me; she never laughed at any of my jokes.”

Midna smiled.

Tatl and Midna continued to talk and look at the sketchbooks until after the sky went dark. Midna could feel herself becoming more comfortable with him and, for the first time, was tempted to talk about her own childhood. Tatl either didn’t notice or didn’t mind Midna’s continued resistance to talk about herself. He did enough talking for the both of them, and once even got Midna to laugh out loud at a joke at Link’s expense.

Without warning, Navi opened the door leading into the temple. “I’ve been looking for you two everywhere,” she started, “We should get to bed. Link said she needs to talk to us in the morning. Something important.”

While this wouldn’t normally sound like something that would require people hurry to bed, Navi continued to insist that they comply, killing any conversation the two could have had. Tatl chuckled as he stood and held a hand for Midna. She took it and, with his help, stood.

“Here,” she handed him the notebooks, “Thank you for sharing these with me. You’re a very good artist.”

“Duh.” Tatl joked, unable to hide his surprise by Midna’s candor. He took the notebooks and nodded. Navi’s continued insistence that they go to bed broke what little moment they had and the two marched off to the tent in a line, with Navi between the two.

Before they crawled through the opening, Midna stopped and looked back at Tatl, “Hey, Tatl…”

“Yeah?”

“If you needed someone else to draw, you could draw me…If you want.”

* * *

 

Early the next morning, while everyone ate powdered eggs and toast, Link addressed the tired students, “Faso is coming this afternoon with more supplies. I will be going with him when he leaves.”

Navi instantly woke up, “What? Why? There’s still so much to do here, why are we leaving?”

“ _We’re_ not leaving. _I_ am leaving,” Link corrected her, “Navi will be in charge while I am gone. Stay here another week or so, get what you can, and then meet with me at my office on campus.”

“But why?” Navi asked, not satisfied with the correction, “There’s still so much to do here! We’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s here!”

“Well,” Link took in a breath, “As you’ve noticed, I’ve been reading the journal pretty extensively. I’m sorry I haven’t been as active as I should be. I didn’t mean to leave you all without me.”

“Yeah, you haven’t been your regular laugh riot.” Tatl interjected.

Link didn’t look as amused as Tatl or Navi, “Yes, well, this Zelda has some very interesting things to say. I’m only about halfway through, but she’s already mentioned the Master Sword.”

Tatl, Navi, and Midna perked up. Midna spoke first, “The Master Sword? That’s not real, though, is it? It’s a myth?”

Link’s eyes turned to Midna, “You’ve heard of it?”

“Who hasn’t?”

“Yes, well, there’s never been any real evidence that it existed. Not really,” Link held up the stapled Journal papers, “But this Zelda seems to think that it’s real. And she talks about where it’s located.”

There was an excited shift in the group at these words. Tatl and Navi both tried to talk over each other, but Navi eventually bowed out and let Tatl speak first, “Is that where you’re going? To check out the location from the journal? Not fair!”

“I have to agree with Tatl,” Navi interjected, “This temple is an amazing find, better than most can hope for, but…but…Master Sword! The Blade of Evil’s Bane!”

The two graduate students continued to complain for a few moments until Midna cut them off, “You don’t believe it, right? I mean, the Master Sword? Really?”

Link locked eyes with Midna, “You’re right. I don’t.” Tatl and Navi were instantly quiet.

“Then why are you going?” Midna asked.

“Good question. See, normally this would just get me curious. I would finish up here before moving on. But, the Stalfos were trying to get their hands on this journal. Someone wanted this journal very badly and, so far, there’s not really much else I can see of use to someone who would hire them. Who ever hired the Stalfos thinks the Master Sword is real, knew of this temple, and knew this journal was here. That worries me.”

“So,” Navi started, “you _are_ going to the Master Sword?”

“No. According to this, there are a couple of artifacts that act as keys to the chamber that holds the sword.”

“So, you’re going to get these artifacts?” Tatl asked.

“Yes. I’ll meet up with you three before going after the sword itself. Or whatever it is.”

“What kinds of artifacts are they?” Navi asked.

“Royal ones.”

Navi and Tatl let out a joint understanding “Ooh,” which left Midna to ask, “What does that mean?”

“It means I have to visit my snooty cousin.”


	3. The Snooty Cousin

** Chapter 3: The Snooty Cousin: **

Link carried lugged her carry on through the small gangway of the plane. She had already memorized her assigned seat, so she didn’t need to hold onto her ticket, freeing her hand for the pages of the journal. When she came to her seat, she stored her bag in the overhead compartment and sat down in the aisle seat, not noticing the man in the sharp grey suit next to her.

Passengers loaded the plane for a few more minutes. Not long after everyone was seated the captain announced that they would be taking off soon, and the flight attendants in their green uniforms ran through a short presentation on safety. Link paid attention to none of it, however, as her attention was still on the journal pages. She read them intently as the plane lurched forward and took off. Link joked to herself about how long winded this Zelda must have been. The passages in the journal were extremely detailed and needlessly long. It reminded her of someone else she knew.

Link was fascinated by the structure of the Journal. There were three separate accounts of her life from age seven onward. Each account was vastly different and extremely detailed. Link knew which accounts were fictions only because of her knowledge of the history of the time. Though, it almost seemed like the Princess Zelda didn’t. She wrote it so that that each account was equally authentic. If someone wasn’t aware of history, they wouldn’t be able to tell you what was real and what was fake. Why add these extra accounts? Was there a significance of the fictions, or was this Zelda earnestly unable to tell reality from fantasy?

Link lost track of time as she pondered these questions. The man in the suit smiled and spoke, “Hello. How are you today?”

“Hmm?” Link said, not looking up from her paper.

“What are you reading?” he asked.

At this Link looked up, “What?”

“What are you reading? You seem very interested in it.”

“Oh. It’s work.” Link said as curtly as possible and returned her eyes to the journal.

“You must like what you do. You’re glued to that paper.”

Link grunted.

“What would a beautiful woman like yourself do for a living?”

Link ignored him.

“If you don’t want to say, I understand.” He said, somewhat dejectedly. There was a pause in the conversation, and just as Link thought it was over, he spoke again, “So, where are you headed?”

For the first time since boarding the plane, Link put the papers down in her lap, “Listen, you seem nice…and everything…but I really just want to focus on this. Is it okay if we, just, not talk?”

“Okay, fine,” he said bitterly before adding under his breath, “You don’t have to be such a bitch about it.”

Link gritted her teeth, pursed her lips, and pressed the button to call the attendant. A redheaded woman in a green uniform came to her and deactivated the call button, “What can I do for you ma’am?”

“How much longer before we land?”

“Only about an hour. Is there anything I can get for you?”

“Can I get a drink?”

“Yes, ma’am. What would you like?”

“Can I get something with alcohol?”

“Yes, but there will be an additional charge.”

“Bring me your strongest.”

The attendant nodded and walked to the front of the plane. As she left, the man next to Link muttered, “I thought you were going to work” under his breath. Link resisted the urge to tell him off, as well as the urge to slam his head against the wall of the plane. Luckily, this was the last of their interaction, as he focused on the window for the rest of the flight.

Link tried to put her frustration out of her mind as she returned to the journal. She was distracted one more time by the attendant bringing her a drink with a light brown liquid. Link smiled, thanked her, and gave her a credit card to charge the drink. Before long, the attendant returned for the empty plastic cup and the plane started to descend.

After the long and tedious process of disembarking from the plane, Link walked through the Termina airport, which was decorated for the Four Giants Carnival, a celebration with which Link was not particularly familiar. She noticed a lot of moons, but didn’t pay them much attention. She walked past the luggage claim without stopping and moved directly out the door. Once on the sidewalk, she looked up and down the path for a cab.

“Nerva!” a familiar voice called out to Link.

“Sheik!” Link called out and waved.

Sheik stood by a limo and nodded when Link called out. Sheik was tall with a firm build, which was not hidden by the white collared shirt, black vest, and black slacks. Sheik’s skin was tanned, and her rich brown eyes were behind dark glasses, and her blonde hair cut in a short, asymmetrical fashion. It had a buzz cut around most of the head, but a small patch of chin-length hair was swept behind Sheik’s left ear. Sheik spoke into her collar, walked over to Link, and offered to carry her bag.

“No thanks, I got it.” Link said respectfully.

“Very well.” Sheik opened the door of the limo and followed Link inside.

Link sat comfortably in one of the bench seats. She rooted through her bag, found her baton holster, and started to attach it to her hip. Sheik motioned for the driver to start moving and settled across from her.

“Are you not still guarding the princess?” Link asked.

“Yes. It is my duty.” Sheik responded with undetectable warmth.

“Then why are you not there now?”

“I was sent to retrieve you.”

“By whom?”

“My sister.”

“But, I didn’t tell Her Royal Grumpiness that I was coming.”

Sheik smirked, “You should know better than to try to surprise the princess.”

Link shrugged, “I like the haircut, by the way.”

“Thank you.”

“I take it that it’s not a regulation haircut?”

Sheik laughed and ran a hand through the long blonde hair, “maintaining a guard’s standard of dress is _not_ my duty.”

Link chuckled and looked out the window. All around the car were decorations of moons, and street venders selling different types of masks.

“You know what’s with the moons?” Link asked.

Sheik nodded.

“You gonna tell me?”

Sheik smirked, “for an archeologist, you sure don’t visit the museum often.”

“What?”

“The history museum in Kakariko has featured an exhibit on Terminan masks for almost three months, many of the masks have a direct relation to the festival. I thought you’d have gone. Honestly, don’t you have an assistant who studies Terminan masks?”

Link started to feel a bit guilty. Finding the Forest Temple was the end of a chain of events that had taken several months. She was so wrapped up in this process, she missed a golden opportunity for her student. She was doing Tatl a disservice by not allowing him to visit this museum. She couldn’t remember Tatl mentioning it, but it could be that Tatl didn’t want to bother Link with it. Link made a mental note to ask Tatl if he’d like a few days to study the masks when she got home.

Link snapped back to reality, “So, you still play ball with everyone back home?”

Sheik nodded, “Yes.”

“Next time I’m in town, mind if I pop by?”

Sheik nodded, “No. We would not mind. In fact, I was going to ask you to come by. It’s been too long.”

“When.”

“I’ll text.”

The limo arrived at a grand hotel deep in the heart of the city. Link gathered her bag and stepped out of the car, “Uh, Sheik, this isn’t my hotel.”

“It is, actually,” Sheik said, following her out, “Once we were aware of your visit, we made some changes to your arrangements. The princess is staying here during her visit to Clock City, we thought this would make your business easier.”

“I see.” Link said, slinging the bag over her shoulder and walking to the door of the hotel, “And what is the princess doing here, anyway?”

Sheik nodded at a similarly dressed man and woman at the door before answering, “The individual states in Termina are forming a union. Until recently, Termina hasn’t been a country as we know it. The Zora, Goron, Deku, and the people of Clock City have long held governance over their own territories. They now feel that their economic interests will best be served if they unify, and Princess Zelda is presiding over the negotiations.”

“How long has it been going on?” Link asked.

“The negotiations started a week ago. It seems we will be returning to Hyrule soon.”

“Already?”

“Yes. It seems that all benefit when people are earnestly willing to cooperate.”

Link rolled her eyes at the pointed remark as she walked toward the front desk. She was waved off by Sheik who said that she had already been checked in to a room. A man in sunglasses, shirt, and vest like Sheik’s handed her a hotel key card.

“I wasn’t planning on staying more than a night,” Link said.

“We know.”

“Of course you do. When can I talk to the princess?” Link asked as they walked into the elevator.

“She is with someone now. Come to this room in an hour or so. I am going to report in. If you need food, charge it to us.” Sheik handed Link a card with a room number on it just as the doors opened for Link’s floor.

Link shook her head as she walked out, “Thank you, but I can take care of myself. I’ll see you in an hour.”

Sheik nodded as the elevator doors closed.

 

* * *

 

An hour after Link left Sheik, she found herself in front of the presidential suite door. She knocked and Sheik opened the door, nodded, and welcomed Link in, “The princess is finishing with her previous appointment now, she will be with you in a moment.” As she walked into the large room, Link saw what the ‘previous appointment’ entailed.

On the dark wooden floor was a long white mat. Two people stood facing each other on the mat and wore padded white uniforms and helmets. One uniform had a large purple square on the torso and back and the other had green squares. Each person had a sword and shield made of wood and white rubber, and the two were dueling intensely with a large, heavily tattooed silver-haired woman, dressed like as Sheik, standing on the side watching.

Link couldn’t help but evaluate their performance as they dueled. Both were slow, and both had a tendency to telegraph their attacks, making blocking that much easier. They slashed at each other when they should try to stab, and they held their shields too close to their body, limiting their range of motion. After two attempts to slash the purple player, the green let their shield drift too far, and the purple player slashed, hitting the green patch.

“Touché,” called the guard between them, “Three points to two. Match goes to purple.”

The green player placed his sword and shield on the ground by the mat and took off his helmet. He was young, attractive, and smiling. He held out a hand for the purple player, “Good match. It’s always a pleasure.”

The purple player placed her sword and shield by the mat, took off her helmet, and met the green player’s eyes. It was Princess Zelda. Her long dark blonde hair was pulled back with an elaborate series of braids, her eyes were a brilliant blue, and her lips painted a deep red. Even with the sweat on her forehead, everything about her screamed elegance, grace, and sophistication. Link hated it.

Link started to clap slowly, “Good match. I wonder how you’d do against someone who won’t _let_ you win?”

Zelda glared at Link. To anyone else, it would seem that her stare burned straight through them. But Link, after years of knowing the princess, was immune to such intimidation. Zelda shot a quick glance to Sheik, who shrugged.

Zelda then gave the green player a delicate smile, took his hand, and responded, “Never mind my cousin. Thank you for indulging me. It is always a pleasure dueling you, Mr. Keaton.”

“Will you still be here next week for another match?”

“I suspect not, unfortunately. My work here is almost done, which means I will be returning to Hyrule soon.”

“That’s too bad, I’ll have to find someone else to duel until you return.”

Zelda gave a slight bow, which was answered by a much deeper bow from Mr. Keaton. He then moved to the door and was helped out of his dueling uniform by Sheik. Zelda walked gracefully to a tea tray by a large window. She grabbed a tall glass, placed a lemon slice inside, loaded it with ice, and filled it with cold water from a pitcher, sipped, and faced Link. Each motion was deliberate, graceful, and delicate.

“Would you like a glass? Or perhaps tea?”

“No, I’m good.”

“I apologize for my appearance. It is important to keep fit.” Zelda’s apology seemed idiotic to Link. Even though she had clearly been exercising hard, Zelda still appeared to be pretty well put together. In fact, Link felt underdressed that her normal braid, green sleeved t-shirt, and jeans. Link always felt underdressed when next to Zelda.

“He give you a good workout?” Link asked accusingly.

“Yes. He did. Now, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?” Zelda asked with a hint of sarcasm, “What do you need of me?

“You tell me,” Link shrugged defiantly, “You seem to know everything. You knew I was coming; you even knew when my plane landed.”

Zelda smirked as she drank her water, “I am not omniscient. You seem to think I am Goddess Hylia herself.”

“I’m not the only one.” Link said under her breath.

Zelda sat in a cushioned chair and crossed her ankles. It was as if she thought she was wearing an elegant gown and not a dueling uniform, “You only seek me out when you need something. Now, I am incredibly busy, do you care to tell me what you want, or shall we exchange our usual insults?”

Link took a deep breath, paused, and made her request, “I need the ocarina.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I need the ocarina…from your vault.”

“The Ocarina of Time?”

“Yes.”

Zelda laughed, “Oh, why yes, please take the most important artifact of not only my family but my entire country. Why not? I could just ship it to your office if you’d like. Or would you prefer carry it in a grocery sack?”

“Zel…”

“Why even come ask me in person? You need only send me an e-mail for such a request…Or a text.”

“Zelda, will you please shut up?”

From anyone else, this request would cause Zelda pause. From her cousin, however, she didn’t flinch.   Her tone became serious, “You are not going to take the Ocarina of…”

“We found a journal.”

Zelda stopped berating Link, “A journal?”

“Yes. From one of your predecessors. From more than 800 years ago.”

Zelda took a sip of water, “I fail to see what that has to do with the Ocarina.”

“In it, she talks about the Master Sword. She talks about where it’s located.”

“I was under the impression that the sword was a myth. Further, I am still not seeing what this has to do with…”

“She mentions the security measures meant to keep the sword hidden: a door that can only be open with a number of keys. Supposedly, the Ocarina of Time is one of those keys.”

“Supposedly? _One of_ the keys?” Zelda asked, trying to hide her piqued interest.

“She also mentions something called the “spiritual stones.”   They’re probably the only things that she’s vague on, and I am not aware of them from the other research I’ve conducted. I will have to read more to find them.”

“So, you want to take the most revered item in the history of Hyrule because it is _part_ of what you need to find a mythological object which may or may not exist.”

“That about sums it up.”

“And, let’s assume that I believe this Master Sword does exist, why do you believe it will be where this journal says it will be? You say it is eight centuries old, would no one move it in eight centuries?”

“Probably. There are mentions of the Master Sword being used in literature made after the journal.”

“So, why am I even entertaining this proposition?” Zelda finished her water and placed it on the table next to her.

“More water ma’am?” The silver guard asked.

“Yes, Impa, that would be lovely. Thank you.” The guard took the water glass, shot a scolding look at Link, and walked to retrieve the water.

Link groaned and rubbed her eyes, “Listen, I still don’t know if I believe that this sword exists. But someone does.”

“What do you mean?” Zelda asked, taking her newly filled water glass from Impa.

“The temple where we found this journal was filled with Stalfos when we got there.”

Zelda leaned forward in her chair, “Stalfos?”

“Yeah, they’re this biker gang; they…”

“I am aware of who the Stalfos are, thank you.”

“Anyway, they were trying desperately to get this journal.”

“Why would Stalfos want an ancient journal?”

“I think they were hired. Someone wanted the Stalfos to get the journal and deliver it to them. They must have known information on the sword was in it. They are looking for the sword.”

“I see.” Zelda stood and walked to the window. She pondered for a moment before speaking, “If the Master Sword does exist, it is a critical part of Hyrule’s history and folklore. I will not see it stolen out from under her.” She turned to Link, “Continue this investigation. Once you determine the Master Sword’s location and the other necessary keys, return to me and I will accompany you with the ocarina to retrieve it.”

Link chuckled and started to swing her arms, “No no. No dice. I’m not going to work while under your thumb. This is what I do for a living, Zel, trust me to do what works.”

“I am not letting you take a national treasure with no oversight. You have hardly earned my trust in the past.”

“Okay then, I’ll just drop it, keep taking notes on the temple where we found the Journal. Maybe even find someone to publish the journal itself.” Link threw her arms into the air and started walking toward the door, “Whoever’s looking for the sword can just keep it. Or destroy it. Whatever. Not my problem.”

Zelda sprang forward and called after Link, “Stop! Minerva, Stop.” Link stopped and Zelda regained her composure, “Very well. The ocarina is in the castle vault in Hyrule. I will have it brought to you upon your return.”

Link smirked as she bowed, “Thank you.”

“However, Sheik will be the one to bring it to you. Sheik will handle the ocarina at all times, and will accompany you on any excavation you may perform while looking for the sword.   You may work in the way you see fit, but Sheik will report to me daily on your progress. Are these terms agreeable to you?”

Link looked at Sheik for any sign of agreement, but found no hint of feelings one way or the other. Link signed, shook her head, and responded, “Yeah, sure. That’ll work.”

“Wonderful.” Zelda tried to not show emotion, but it was clear that she was relieved at the outcome, “Sheik will accompany you back to Hyrule tomorrow and will retrieve the ocarina for you. I look forward to hearing more about your discoveries.” Zelda gave a diplomatic smile. “Impa?” she held out her arms and Impa walked up behind her, helping her remove the dueling uniform.

“Right, well,” Link looked at Sheik, “What time’s my flight tomorrow?”

“I will call you when the new arrangements are made.”

“Talk to you later,” Link turned to Zelda, “and thanks.”

Link started to walk out, but was stopped by Zelda’s parting words, “Minerva. I know you won’t believe me, but it was honestly good to see you. I do miss you.”

Link searched for the perfect response, but settled for a nod and, “…sure.”


	4. Aleyn Zant

** Chapter 4: Aleyn Zant **

Link leaned against the wall beside the family bathroom of the Termina airport: the _only_ family bathroom of the Termina airport. Thirty minutes before, she and Sheik heard the announcement that their flight was delayed another two hours, at which point Sheik asked Link if she’d be okay looking for a restroom. The two searched for almost an hour before they finally found a gender neutral restroom Sheik could use, and the one they found was on the exact opposite side of the airport from their terminal. Link held not an ounce of resentment.

Sheik exited the restroom, handcuffed to a small metal case and apologizing profusely, “I am sorry. I had planned to hold it until once on the plane, but a two-hour delay made that plan impossible. I didn’t mean for us to walk across the entire airport.”

“No worries, Sheik,” Link said with an earnest smile, “It’s not your fault there aren’t any agender bathrooms. You didn’t design the place.” She gave a loving slap to Sheik’s back and the two walked back to their terminal. “Bet you miss that private plane now, huh?”

Sheik nodded, “I do. Unfortunately, it is a luxury reserved for the princess.”

The rest of their flying experience was, thankfully, uneventful. The Royal Family had sprung for first class tickets, which meant Link was able to enjoy a bit more legroom, a bit more cushioned seats, and a lot more peace in which to read. Her only neighbor was Sheik, and neither one of them was uncomfortable with silence. Before Link and Sheik knew any substantial time had passed, the pilot announced that they would be landing soon, and asked passengers to buckle their seat belts. The two complied and the plane’s landing was nothing but smooth. After being the first ones off the plane, Link remarked how much she loved not having to wait to exit the plane.

Both Link and Sheik carried on the luggage they needed, so they both blew past baggage claim and out the doors without pause. In front of them was a large circle drive where several cars drove up to pick up loved ones. On the other side of the drive sat a large parking garage. Link looked up and down the drive for an unattended taxi as Sheik looked at a cellphone and touched Link’s arm, “I have arranged for a town car. The driver is in the wrong drive and requires directions. If you would like, I will find him and bring him here.”

“So, you want me to wait here?”

Sheik nodded.

“Alright, leave your bag with me. I’ll watch it while you go. We’ll load them all up at once.”

Sheik nodded again, dropped the bag, and ran across the street into the parking garage just beyond the drive. Just after Sheik jogged into the garage and disappeared from view, a black limo with tinted windows pulled up in front of Link. The door opened.

“Miss Link?” asked a large man in a suit who was stepping out of the limo.

“Doctor.” Link said, keeping a careful eye on the man.

“What?”

“I have a doctorate. I’m a doctor. Not _miss_.”

“So you are Minerva Link?”

“Yeah,” Link stared down the hulking man. Her eyes locked onto his sunglasses, but her mind was in her bag. This guy meant her harm, and if it came down to it, she needed to get the batons out of her bag. How could she do that? There are so many people around, how can she keep them safe?

“I’m here to give you a ride.” He held the door open for Link.

“Bullshit.” Link called him out, but he did not seem to react.

“You misunderstand. My employer would like very much to see you.”

“What happens if I don’t want to see them? What happens if I just walk away?”

“That won’t happen.” The man opened his suit jacket to reveal a black gun holster. He then nodded to the door of the airport, which was framed on each side by a suspicious looking man in a suit; both men were staring at Link.

Link tried to evaluate her situation. If she went in the car, she couldn’t guarantee her own safety, but if she refused a whole lot more people could get hurt.   She looked around the busy loading bay for more planted people with guns: She couldn’t recognize any, but there were so many heads that she couldn’t be sure. Her eyes drifted down to her bag. Her batons were tucked away inside, and she couldn’t think of any way to get them without drawing attention.

The man at the car must have seen her thinking about the bag, “Leave the bags here.”

Link made the uneasy decision to get in the car. She didn’t want anyone else to get hurt, and she knew that these people wouldn’t try to hurt her until after she had met this employer. By that time she could come up with some plan on getting away. Link nodded at the man and started to get into the car.

Just before she stepped inside, she saw Sheik emerge from the parking garage, eyes darting back and forth from Link and the car to the crowd, finding possible targets. Link could see that Sheik meant to rescue Link. Link made eye contact with Sheik and shook her head slightly. She didn’t want Sheik to make any sort of move. She didn’t want Sheik captured as well. Sheik understood the understated gesture and slowed down, and snuck back into the garage.

Link sat in the middle of the back seat, and the man who opened the door followed her in, closed the door, and tapped on the glass separating them from the driver. The car lurched forward, and they were off.

As they drove, neither Link nor the armed man tried to strike up a conversation. Link’s eyes floated back and forth between the man and the window, as she tried to track where the car was moving, just in case she needed to make a break for it. The man’s eyes were glued on Link. About an hour after they left the airport, the car entered a neighborhood of large mansions, just outside the city. The car reached a large automatic gate, which creaked open as the limo approached.

Once the limo was parked just outside the large house inside the gate, Link was pushed out of the car and to the large oak front doors. The house was huge. The entry way was grand, tall, and capped with an ornate golden chandelier. Link was pushed forward, passed a sitting room that reeked of old money and brown alcohol, and into an office. It wasn’t until she was dropped into a brown leather chair that she could look around the office. The majority of the office looked as if it were pulled from a stodgy decorating magazine, with old books, brown leather, and dark red wood. To Link’s left was a large bookshelf that took up the entire wall and was filled with books and small, ornate sculptures. The sole deviation from the “rich old guy” aesthetic of the room sat behind the desk, across from Link. The wall was taken up completely by a fish tank, which was filled with large, colorful fish and an impressive Shark.

“Hello, Professor Link. I hope you weren’t waiting long.” Link turned around to face the door. Walking in was a short, very thin man wearing a suit that seemed to be a size too big for him. His balding silver hair was combed back close to his scalp, and his thin neck poked out of his shirt collar like a tortoise’s head pokes out of its shell.

“Well,” Link said as he walked, clanking his hard shoes on the wooden floors, “Considering I didn’t even know I was going to be here.” The man smirked and sat down behind the desk, framed by the swimming shark.

Link nodded, “Mr. Zant.”

Zant smirked again and clasped his hands together, “So, you know who I am.”

“Of course.” Link said, trying to sound confident, considering her dangerous circumstances. Aleyn Zant is one of the more wealthy people in Hyrule. Everyone knows the story of how the kid from Kakariko who grew up fishing Lake Hylia, saving money until he could buy his own restaurant, and then another, and then real estate. He worked his way from a fisherman’s apprentice to all out mogul. Except, through her royal connections, Link knew that his acquisition of wealth wasn’t entirely _legitimate._ The Royal guard suspected Zant to be guilty of extortion, drug dealing, money laundering, and even murder. Link knew she was in a delicate situation, and knew she shouldn’t push her luck.

“And you know why you are here?”

“Can’t say I do.”

Zant took in a deep breath, as if to begin a campaign speech, “I wanted to talk to you about my daughter.”

“Midna.”

Zant nodded, “Yes, Midna. It took quite a deal of work to get her assigned to such an esteemed scholar like yourself.”

“Thank you.”

“I just want to be sure that I am doing everything I can to ensure that she succeeds. And that she is safe.”

“Well, to be honest with you,” Link sat forward in her chair, “I am not entirely sure that she wants to be with us. She doesn’t seem interested in archeology.”

Zant waved her off, “Oh, she isn’t.” He chuckled, “She was unable to decide on a valuable major herself, so I helped her decide.”

“You ‘helped’ her?”

“Yes. At first, she wanted to be an astronomer, but I couldn’t allow that to happen, Midna is too flighty for the hard sciences.” Zant chuckled; Link did not, “Then she chose to major in criminal justice. She said she wanted to be a detective. Well, I couldn’t allow that too happen. She is far too rebellious, and being a detective would be far too dangerous, you see,” Zant smirked as the giant shark passed by the office window.

“Yes. I see.” Link played along.

“Which brings me to the reason I asked you here.”

Link couldn’t help but notice the word _asked_.

“It has come to my attention that you, with my daughter, were attacked by biker thugs while working?”

Link tried to hide her surprise, but her jaw clenched and her eyes widened. How did he know about the Stalfos?

“Yes, I thought so. See, the safety of my dear Midna is of the utmost import to me. I cannot have her being mugged or worse by some…” Zant groaned as he thought, “…lowlife.”

“I totally agree.” Link said.

“I am glad you do,” Zant stood and walked around to the side of the desk. His tone shifted from a toying voice to a gravely serious one, “I will not tolerate Midna being put in danger when under your supervision.”

“And I totally agree, “Link repeated, ”But the Stalfos situation was the result of coincidence, nothing more. My team and I have been pulling the strings on this sweater for over a year now and haven’t encountered anything like them. I don’t expect to see them again.”

“Even still,” Zant crossed his scarecrow arms, “I would prefer you stop pulling these particular strings.”

Link was stunned at the request. After taking a pause to collect herself, she asked, “excuse me?”

“If following this path means my daughter is going to be attacked by these lowlife criminals, than I must insist that you not follow this path.”

“But, Mr. Zant…”

“I understand that this would mean a substantial setback for you and your work.” Zant walked back to his side of the desk and opened the top drawer. He placed a large leather binder on the desk and opened it, “In exchange for making this sacrifice, I am willing to fund your research for the next three years.”

Link wasn’t swayed, “Mr. Zant, I can’t just…”

“Five years. Professor, I can write all sorts of numbers in this checkbook.” Zant snatched a pen from his desk and teased the paper of the large checkbook.

Link didn’t know what to do. She had a moral problem accepting bribes, and she was on the verge of the greatest discovery of all time, a discovery 800 years in the making, and she didn’t want to turn back now. However, one does not simply say _no_ to Aleyn Zant.

Zant must have seen Link’s indecisiveness, “Tell me, do you like my shark?” He turned to the tank, where the shark took another lap around the tank. “I caught him myself just a year ago. Magnificent beast, eh? So strong.”

“Sure.”

“But notice the other fish in the tank? The shark doesn’t attack them, even though it is clearly bigger than they are. Why? Why does the shark leave those alone?” Zant was probing.

“Why.”

“The shark knows how to pick its battles. The other fish are poisonous to eat, and the shark knows that if it turns on those other fish, it will surly die. He serves as my reminder…” Zant’s eyes locked with Link’s, “…that we all need to know how to pick our battles.”

Link nodded, not breaking eye contact with Zant, “right.”

Zant smirked, and broke his gaze from Link’s to grab a small card from his desk, “Of course, I don’t expect you to make any decisions today. Take my card,” he handed the card to Link, “Contact me when you decide to take me up on my offer.” He then pushed a button on his desk, and the door behind link creaked open to reveal two large people in suits, “My people will take you to your university. I believe your friend has grabbed your bags.”

Link didn’t say anything. She didn’t know what to say. She stood, stared at Zant for a moment, and then followed the suits out of the room. Just as she reached the threshold of the door, Zant stopped her with a breath, “And remember, professor: pick your battles.”


	5. The Hidden Sect

“’Pick your battles?’ What the hell does that mean?” Tatl retorted, leaning against the wall of Link’s on-campus office. The office was large for a professor’s office. The newly renovated building had a contemporary feel, which Navi felt contrasted nicely with the areas of study of the Archeology department. Several bookshelves lined the walls of Link’s office and each shelf was full of books of all ages with a few artifact replicas acting as bookstops. Her desk, which sat near the back of the room, was incredibly messy. Books and papers were haphazardly stacked and pushed aside to make room for Link’s laptop computer. Link leaned back in her office chair behind her desk. Sheik and Navi sat in the two chairs on the door’s side of the desk, both looking incredibly nervous. As Tatl spoke, Navi turned to face him.

Link pressed her thumb to her temple and shrugged, “I’m guessing he wants us to stop looking for the Master Sword.”

Navi spun around, “Is _that_ what we’re doing?” She got the undivided attention of everyone in the room, “We just made an incredible discovery! The Forest temple is…is…”

“An incredible discovery?” Tatl finished her sentence.

“Joke if you want, but it is. It’s a career maker. It’s a ‘get your name in the history books’ discovery. It’s a ‘household name’ discovery.”

“Well, technically, the Stalfos discovered it.”

Navi was growing tired of Tatl’s jokes, “Even so, I still don’t understand why we’d give that up to chase a fairy tale. An incredibly important, fascinating bird in the hand…”

Link held up her copy of the Journal, “Have you read this?”

Navi shook her head, “Not yet. Midna isn’t done translating it yet, but I’ve seen…”

“This Zelda thought it was real. She wrote where to find it. If it is real, this will tell us where to get it.” She dropped the copies onto her messy desk, “And besides, Zant wants us off the temple anyway.”

“But why?” Tatl asked.

“Sheik?” Link turned to her friend.

“I don’t know. As far as we can tell, he’s telling the truth: that he’s honestly concerned with Midna’s safety.” Sheik commented, the chain attaching their wrist to the briefcase secretly holding the ocarina giving a slight jingle.

“So, what do we do?” Navi interjected, “Just stop studying the most important archeological find of the century?”

Link shrugged, “I don’t know. If we continue to study the temple, or go after the sword, she’ll tell him that we’re still on it. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be in that position. This is why I asked you both to come here. This concerns you two just as much as me.”

Sheik smirked and gave a playful glare to Link.

“Wait…” Tatl pushed himself off the wall and walked toward the desk, “Where is Midna.”

“I sent her to get coffee.” Link coldly answered.

“She should be back by now. There’s a coffee shop in the building.”

“I sent her to one on University Drive. I wanted to be able to chat without her here.”

“But this concerns her too.” Tatl interjected. He looked to be a bit agitated.

“How do you think that Zant knew about the Stalfos in the first place?” Link demanded. The other people in the room stared at Link, not quite sure what to say. Link continued, “She told her dad about the Stalfos, and now her dad wants us off the case. I don’t want anything else getting to him. We decide our course of action here and now. Without Midna.”

“But…” Tatl rubbed his now stubbly chin, “Midna didn’t tell her father about the Stalfos.”

“What?” Link indignantly swung in her chair to look at Tatl as he paced in the office.

“I mean…she couldn’t have. She was with me the whole time while we were at the Temple. She never called her dad.”

“What do you mean she was with you the whole time?” Link looked from Tatl to Navi, who shrugged meekly, and back to Tatl.

“Well, I told her that if she had the photographs of the original journal, she could translate the thing anywhere, and I finally convinced her to get out of the tent and into the temple as we explored.”

“Yeah, she was with _both_ of us.” Navi interjected nervously.

“And there was no time when she slipped away? No time when she could have called Zant?”

“Not that I can remember.” Navi answered before Tatl could speak, “And even if she could have slipped away, she couldn’t have called anyone. Remember? There was no cell service anywhere near the temple.”

Link sat forward in her chair, rested her elbows on the messy desk, and rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hand, “This makes no sense. How else did he know about them?”

“Seriously?”

Link’s eyes shot up and the other people in the office spun around and looked at the door.   Standing in the doorway, carefully balancing five to-go coffee cups, stood an angry Midna.

“Midna? How long have you…” Tatl started.

“Not long.” She said to Tatl before turning her eyes to Link, “You seriously don’t know? He knew about the Stalfos because _he hired them._ ” The room was surrounded with a heavy silence. Midna came in, closed the office door with her foot, and stormed toward the desk to put the coffee down with a _thud_.

“Wait…what?” Tatl broke the silence as best he could.

“My dad hired the Stalfos to get the journal. That must be why they were banging on that chest, and that’s why he knew that you met them. It’s because they had to report back to him.”

“Does Zant usually hire Stalfos?” Link asked.

“Not that I know of, but I wouldn’t put it past him.”

“Wouldn’t put it past him?” Navi asked.

“Yeah, yeah. We all know my dad isn’t ‘citizen of the year,’” she tried to make eye contact with everyone else in the room, but only Sheik would look up at her, “I don’t think he really cares what happens to me. If he’s telling you to back off, it’s because you’re going after something he wants. I’ve seen him do it a hundred times.”

“But why?” Tatl asked Midna, now meeting her eyes, “Is your dad all that interested in archeology?”

“Well…” Midna paused to think as Link reached for her coffee, “Not until recently.”

“What do you mean?” Link asked, taking a sip.

“Well, when I first applied to college, I wanted to major in astronomy, but my dad told me I shouldn’t because women aren’t good in science…”

Navi said something under her breath as Sheik’s phone vibrated with a text.

Midna continued, “Well, then I wanted to stick it to him, so I majored in criminal justice, and he forbade me. After a semester of that he threatened to pull me out of school.”

“Sorry if I’m out of bounds,” Tatl began, “but why did you tell him what you majored in?”

“I never did.” Midna said, defeatedly. After a moment, she continued, “After that, he decided on a major for me. Archeology. At this point, I don’t even really care anymore.” There was a sad defiance in Midna’s eyes. Everyone seemed to be frozen except for Tatl, who made a slight move toward Midna.

“But, why archeology?” Link asked, “Why me?”

“Before I graduated high school, he started collecting pieces of this…thing. It’s an old artifact sort of thing. He got obsessed with it.”

“What was it?” Link asked.

Midna tried to make the shape of the artifact with her hands, “It’s sort of a…helmet thing. Like a mask or something.”

Link looked at Tatl, “You know anything about this?”

Tatl shrugged and turned to Midna, “What did it look like? Could you draw it?” Midna nodded and Tatl handed her his sketchbook and a pencil. Midna bent over the messy desk and, concentrating intently, drew a rough sketch of the object. She handed the picture to Tatl, who took a second or two to examine it before announcing, “It looks like a Fused Shadow.”

“A what?”

“Ancient object, or collection of objects. According to legend it’s supposed to give the person who compiles all the pieces immense magical power, but it was, supposedly, destroyed a couple hundred years ago.”

“Yeah, well, it didn’t work. He found all the pieces and nothing happened.” Midna interjected.

“ _That’s_ because magic isn’t real…” Tatl said, half joking.

“Yeah, well, pissed off my dad just the same. I think he thought that it would really have worked.”

“When did this…interest in antiquity…begin?” Navi asked.

“A couple of months ago. He said he started having dreams.”

“Dreams?” Link asked skeptically.

“Yeah.”

“What were in these dreams?” Navi asked.

“We didn’t go into it. My dad and I usually don’t get much past the pleasantries before we start arguing.”

“So,” Link started, shifting her weight, “The Fused Shadow didn’t work and now he’s hoping to find the Master Sword? Why? What’s the end game?” Link looked to Midna, who only shrugged. Exasperated, Link rubbed her eyes as her phone let out a _ding._ She barely had time to look at the screen before there was a knock on the door.

“Come in.” Link said without hesitation, not sharing her assistants’ apprehensiveness.

“Professor Link?” a timid Zora undergrad peeked her head through the door, “I was hoping you could help me out?”

“I’m on sabbatical.” Link answered.

“I know, it’s about my schedule for next year? I know you’re not my advisor, but Dr. Gaebora isn’t in his office, and…”

Before she could continue, Link waved her off, “That’s fine,” she looked to the other people in the room, “We’ll continue this discussion tomorrow morning. By then I hope to have something for you,” she shot a look at Sheik, who nodded slightly, “See you then.”

Navi and Sheik stood and walked out of the room quietly, Tatl started out the door, but turned to see a stationary Midna, “You coming?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m coming.”

 

* * *

 

Midna was fuming. She was trying not to fume. She was in full fume. She couldn’t believe that Professor Link would go behind her back like that. That Tatl and the others would have a pleasant little chat about how her father was _such_ a criminal.

Though, Midna reminded herself, her father was a criminal. There was hardly a person of influence in Hyrule City that he hadn’t bribed, extorted, or threatened. He thought Midna didn’t know, but she was very good spy. She was very good at finding out secrets. They tended to just jump out at her.

Also, to be fair, Midna had suspected her father of sending the Stalfos from the beginning. She knew of his growing obsession with artifacts, and hiring a bunch of gangsters who didn’t know how much what they were looking for was worth seemed like a win-win for him. It made sense. What didn’t make sense was why? Why this particular temple? What did he want with them?

She slammed the pedals of her bicycle as she rode across campus from her dorm to the archeology department. She wanted to confront Link. Midna was a part of the team, whether Link (or Midna) liked it or not. Midna deserved to be a part of any decisions made. Right? She at least deserved to be a part of the conversation. Link needed to hear this, and she was going to.

Midna was just reaching sight of the archeology building when she saw Link walk out the door. Midna didn’t know why, but she ducked behind a nearby bush to watch. Instead of walking toward her car, Link walked to the bike rack by the door, unlocked a bike, and mounted. Link started to pedal down the street, away from the center of campus.

Midna gave chase, being sure to not get too close to Link; Midna was good at hiding. Link rode the bike away from campus into a neighborhood of apartments, then houses, then run down townhouses, and finally to what appeared to be an abandoned industrial area. Midna’s legs were burning and her lungs were pulsating. Why was Midna still following her? Where was Link going? Midna couldn’t figure out what was driving her to stay on Link’s tail, other than the fact that she had no idea how to get back to campus from here. Link came to a large rusted out warehouse and brought her bike to a halt. Midna, just about fell over once she stopped her bike, but Link showed no signs of fatigue as she walked to the door of the warehouse and knocked. The door opened, and Link disappeared through the threshold just before the door closed with a soft bang.

Midna locked her bike to a chain link fence across the worn alleyway from the warehouse and approached the door. She considered trying to open the door but decided against it. She looked around for another way in, but found nothing beyond a very high window to the side of the warehouse. After some searching, Midna found and arranged a pile of shipping crates and pallets under the window and climbed up to it. She peaked over the bottom of the window.

Link stood in the dark, empty warehouse with 6 other people. The others were wearing a matching uniform: all black with blue trim. The arms, legs, chest, and back were covered with thin, black plates of armor, and all but two of them had their heads and faces covered. The larger of the two, a woman with long white hair, Midna did not recognize, but the other she did: Sheik (still holding the briefcase from before). Midna listened to their conversation.

“You’re telling me Aleyn Zant sent Stalfos to attack you and your students?” Said the woman with white hair.

“That’s what I’m saying.” Link responded.

“We have reason to believe that Mr. Zant is…interested in acquiring rare artifacts.” Sheik interjected.

“’Rare artifacts’ indeed. The Master Sword and the Fused Shadow. We will redouble our monitoring efforts of the Zant estate.” The woman with white hair said, nonchalantly as Midna almost fell off her perch.

“You’re monitoring the Zants?” Link asked, somewhat indignantly.

“Of course.”

“Then why didn’t you, I don’t know, _stop me from being abducted?_ ”

“What, and risk our operation? You were in no danger. If you were, we would have intervened.”

“If you’re watching the Zants, how did you not know about this whole ‘crazy collector’ bit that he’s doing?” Link asked. The woman said nothing.

“Anyway, Captain Impa, the reason we called you here…we have a request for you.” Sheik interrupted

“Of course you do,” Impa, the woman with the white hair, responded.

“We are looking for something called the ‘Spiritual Stones.’” Link said.

Impa said nothing. Then she started to laugh. Loudly.

“What, did I say something funny?” Link asked Impa, she looked at Sheik, “What?”

Sheik shrugged.

Impa stopped laughing, “We know where the Spiritual Stones are…”

“I would have settled for ‘ _what’_ they are.” Link jested.

“They are a triad of gems, each important to a different culture native to Hyrule: the Kokiri, the Gorons, and the Zora.”

“So, the Kokiri, Gorons, and Zora have them?” Link gave an exasperated sign, “damn it. Fine. Sheik, starting tomorrow you and I will…”

“They do not have them. They were lost centuries ago.” Impa interrupted.

“Okay, so, if we were to search for them, where would we start?” Link asked.

Impa gestured for Sheik to approach her. When Sheik did, Impa produced a key from her belt, and opened the case holding the ocarina.

“How do you have a key for that?” Link asked

Impa glared at him. She lifted the ocarina out of the case and, with the same key she used to open the case, clicked open a hidden lock in the lining of the briefcase. She opened the hidden compartment and displayed for Link, three glowing medallions: A green emerald with golden leaves, a red ruby with golden claws, and one with three blue sapphires set among tiny golden fins.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Link sighed and rubbed her eyes. She opened them again and reached for the stones, but Impa slammed the hidden compartment shut before Link could touch them. She then gingerly replaced the ocarina and locked the case shut. As she made sure Sheik had a firm grasp, another agent came and talked to her in her ear. Impa nodded, and turned to Link, “I’m giving this key to Sheik, who will give it back to you when…”

Midna felt a pinching sensation on her lower back. Before she could bring her hand to rub the pain away, her vision quickly tunneled to black.

 

* * *

 

Midna’s vision came crawling back. Her head ached from the inside out and she had a painful lump on her butt. She groaned as she looked around her. She was laying down on the dirty concrete floor of the warehouse, with Impa, Link, and Sheik standing over her. Her hearing was returning slower than her vision and pain.   At first, it sounded like muffled tubas having an argument. It became the sounds of adults having an argument.

“…e’s a child! How could…careless?”

“I didn’t pla…er to be here! What would I…t out of that?”

“You n..d to be more careful!”

“I’m plenty careful! I took a round about way to get here, I stuck to shadows, I ditched my phone. What else would you like me to do?”

“I’m not going to walk you through the basics of stealth! That’s something you should have mastered years ago! Something you _did_ master years ago! If she could follow you, who else could follow you? Now we’ll have to…”

“Um, excuse me, ‘Nerva? Captain? It appears as if our guest is waking up.” Sheik pointed to Midna, who was now hearing every word. Midna sat up and rubbed her head, frightened but still groggy.

Link crouched down, “hurts like a bitch, huh?”

“Yeah,” Midna rubbed her temples with the heels of her hands, “Where are we? Who are they?” she whispered to Link.

“We are in the middle of Sketchville. And these people,” Link pointed to the people in uniforms, “are the Sheikah.”

“Sheikah?”

“Shadow Folk. A secret society with the mission of protecting the citizens of Hyrule.”

“Protecting us from what?”

Sheik reached a hand down to Midna, “Many things.”

“Sheikah?” Midna asked Sheik as she took the hand and pulled herself up.

Sheik smirked, “Coincedence.”

“Now, we need to decide what to do with you.” Said Impa. Now that Midna was standing next to her, she could see how imposing Impa was. She was a head taller than Link, who was already taller than Midna. Even though the black and blue armor, Midna could tell how muscular Impa was. Her shoulders were broad and sturdy, and her arms were only slightly thinner than Midna’s thighs. Impa’s hands rest on her hips, allowing Midna to see a small red symbol resembling a magnifying glass with an ornate eye encasing the lens on Impa’s left breast.

“What do you mean ‘what to do with me?’” Midna asked, starting to catch her bearings.

“We don’t know how much you’ve seen. We can’t have you telling anyone else about us.”

“Are you going to kill me?” Midna panicked, looking from Impa to Link and Sheik.

“No, we aren’t going to kill you” Impa said, with a nonchalance that such a sentence doesn’t warrant, “We’re going to wipe your memory.”

Link jumped into action, inserting herself between Impa and Midna, “Like hell we are.”

Impa groaned, “You know how this works, Link. We don’t let people who aren’t Sheikah sit in on our gatherings. If we don’t wipe her memory now, we can’t do it later.”

“I’m not Sheikah.” Link asserted.

“You’re…a special case. We don’t wipe the mind of her majesty’s only cousin.”

“And you don’t wipe her’s,” Link grabbed Midna’s shoulder, perhaps a bit too hard, “I need her mind. That’s what makes her valuable to me. To us.”

“We need her quiet.”

“And she will be!” Link yelled as Midna nodded, “Listen, I’ll be with her, Sheik will be with her,” Sheik nodded, “She isn’t telling anyone anything.”

“And Zant? If she lets something slip to him, several of us will be put in danger. I will not…”

“I’m not going telling my dad shit!” Midna announced, “I never talk to him. I kind of hate the guy. Listen, literally the only thing you’ve said to me is that you’re going to brainwash me and I still like you better.” The hall then filled with a heavy silence as Impa considered her position.

Impa groaned and looked at Link and Sheik, “She’s you’re responsibility. Sheik, until I’m convinced of her…propensity for secrecy…I expect regular updates.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Impa then looked at Midna, “I’m impressed that you were able to find us. Do it again, and I will silence you. Understood?”

Midna nodded, “Yes ma’am.”

Impa turned to Link, “That will be all, Link. Take your student and go.”

“Oh, yeah, right. You do your whole ‘creepy ritual’ thing. See you in the morning, Sheik.” Sheik waved and Midna left the warehouse with Link. Once outside, Link grabbed Midna, “What the hell were you thinking?”

“Wha…I….” Midna was caught off guard, “I wanted to talk to you.”

“And so you followed me _all the way out here?_ How?” Midna pointed to her bike. Link chuckled in spite of herself, “well, what was so damn important?”

Midna blushed and looked down, “I…I didn’t like how you kicked me out to talk about my dad.”

Link let go of Midna, bringing her hands to her waist, “Can you blame me? I thought you were selling us out to him.”

“Do you still?”

“I don’t know. I’m choosing to trust you, as much as I trust anyone, anyway.”

“I don’t know why my dad is doing all this, but I know it can’t be good. I’m on your team, professor.”

Link grunted but didn’t respond.

“Professor? Can I ask you something?”

“Hmm?”

Midna worked up the courage to ask Link what had been on her mind since the first moment they met, “Why don’t you like me?”

Link gathered her thoughts, “Midna, I don’t like anybody. Except Sheik.” Link shrugged, “Sometimes Navi. But I do respect you. You’re smart, and as I learned today, loyal. Don’t read too much into how I act, Midna, Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Good. Now, grab your bike, let’s get back to campus.”

Midna groaned, “The ride here almost killed me.”

“We’ll go the short way.” Link grabbed her bicycle as Midna unlocked her own. The two women mounted their bikes and started to ride home. The trip was wordless, but as they peddled down the quite, dark road, Link couldn’t help but imagine Midna as an adult in a Sheikah uniform. It couldn’t have been easy following her here unseen. Link hated to admit it, but she was impressed.

 

* * *

* * *

* * *

 

**Author's Note:**

I'm sorry this chapter is coming so late.  I traveled over the holiday and got out of the habit of writing.  I'm trying to get back into the swing of things.

I do have a request, though:  I'm a cisgender white man.  When I first started coming up with this story (about a decade ago, while I was in high school) Link was too.  He, like all my OCs at the time, looked and acted like me.  As time went on, I came to realize how much of a problem this was, how I couldn't see past myself to write other people.  It limited me creatively and contributed to a representational problem (or it would, if I had ever gotten to writing this stuff down.)  Since then, the characters have gone through some changes.  Navi isn't white, Link isn't a man, etc.

However, I need help.  It was important to me to add a character who did not fall on the gender binary.    In this story, that character is Sheik, who is agender.  It was important to me that Sheik not only be agender, but that their story doesn't _depend_ on their being agender, but that their gender identity still be present in the characterization.  I've never written a non-binary character before. So, my request is this:  **H** **ow am I doing with Sheik specifically?** Any advice you have for me on the subject would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

TJ


	6. The Lost Temple

** Chapter 6: The Lost Temple **

 

As a city that has existed in some form or another for more than a millennium, Hyrule City was an odd mix of old and new. Centuries old ruins are often found next door to contemporary architecture. Old cobblestone streets can hold the addresses of computer retailers, and one can find buildings or businesses that have belonged to the same family for generation after generation. Nowhere is this juxtaposition of old and new more apparent than Castle Town.

Castle Town is a region on the southeast edge of the city. In it’s heyday, it was a bustling economic and cultural center. The streets were lined with unique bazaars and shops, each selling homemade and bartered goods. The large barren well in the center of the center would have been a meeting place for the citizens of Hyrule as they acquired the water they would use for their cooking and drinking. This time, however, has past.

Now, Castle Town is a national park. It is nothing more than a few stone foundations and scraps of walls and hints of a cobblestone walk with grass peaking through. The distant skyline of the city still manages to stand over the ancient ruins, reminding those who walked these paths of how much time has past since this city center was used or designed. The park was empty. Link asked her team to arrive to the park early.

“What are we doing here again?” Tatl yawned. The sky was a brilliant shade of aquamarine, the morning due was at its peak, and the crisp morning air chilled the team. Each of them wore a light jacket, jeans, and hiking boots, though, Midna’s jeans were filled with holes and instead of a light jacket she wore a thin black trench coat. No one carried equipment but Link, who carried a large backpack and several yellow poles. Tatl continued, “If there were some sort of ancient temple housing the most important artifact in all of history, don’t you think we’d have found it yet? I mean, isn’t Castle Town the most studied archeological area in the country?”

“It is.” Navi responded, “And every year we discover new things here. Castle Town is still the most studied area in the country for a reason.”

Tatl looked jovially betrayed, “I thought you said this was a wild goose chase?”

“It is, but the amount which Castle Town is studied is not sufficient evidence to this.” Navi smirked as Tatl started to laugh under his breath.

“Alright chuckle heads, we’re here.” Link and Sheik had made their way ahead of the group. Link called back to the group over her shoulder, and the two graduate students jogged to meet their leader.

Midna lagged a bit behind, apprehensive for some reason Tatl could not discern. “You coming, Mid?”

“Yeah.” She called back, and jogged to meet everyone else. When she arrived to the huddle, she, like Navi, was underwhelmed.

“And here we are. This is where the journal says the sword is located.” Link gestured to what appeared to be a random pile of stones.

“There’s nothing here.” Tatl signed.

“According to the journal, there used to be a temple here. The Temple of Time. Right here. The place wherein the Master Sword rests.”

“And now it’s…not here…” Tatl responded, gesturing to the small field with small stone piles.

“Yeah, the temple is gone, but this is here!” Link pointed to the ground, clearly more excited than everyone else.

“It’s a manhole cover.” Midna said flatly.

“No, it’s ancient.” Link corrected her.

“It’s an ancient manhole cover.” Navi corrected again.

The round, corroded metal disk on the ground was just large enough for one person to stand on topof, or lower themselves below it. Link started to point out markings in the rust: A triforce here, an eagle there. All signs point to it being installed around the same time as the tail end of the journal.

“What does that prove?” Navi asked.

“There were no aqueducts in this area at that time. This isn’t a manhole cover, it’s covering something else.” With these words, Link dropped the poles with several “clanks” extracted a crowbar from her backpack. She began to wedge it between the cover and the ground.

“I know I teased Tatl earlier, but I doubt that we’re the first ones to find this. It’s kind of out in the open.”

Link groaned as she pried the hole open, “We aren’t.” She moved the cover aside and dropped the crowbar. “The people who found it before us didn’t discover anything noteworthy.”

“I can’t imagine what that feels like.” Tatl said, yawning again.

Link pulled the now worn, folded copy of the journal out of her back pocket, “But they didn’t have this! Now, Tatl, Midna, help me set up the winch. Navi, go ahead and look around. I know you’ve been dying to.” Navi gave an audible squeak. Link continued, “Sheik…you’re good.”

Link dropped her backpack and pulled out pieces of the mechanical pulley that attached to the bright yellow poles. The three put together the mechanism without instructions, Link and Tatl from experience, Midna with help from Tatl. Before long, the yellow pyramid frame was constructed, the motor and pulley were in place, and Navi was brought back to the hole. As she pulled her blonde hair into a ponytail, Link explained that she would go in first, followed by Sheik and two of the assistants, “One of you will have to stay here to run the winch.”

“Not it!” Navi and Tatl said at the same time.

“What? Not fair!” Midna exclaimed.

Tatl rested his hand on Midna’s shoulder, “Next time, Mid. I promise.” He gave a little smile and nod before Midna nodded as well, accepting her boring fate. Link handed her a radio and strapped herself into the pulley.

Link descended what seemed like miles. With each foot, the roughly carved walls around her seemed to get darker and more intimidating. She shivered slightly as the temperature dropped as she descended. By the time her feet echoed against the rock floor of the cavern, very little light from the world above made it’s way to her, leaving her in almost blackness. She cracked a large green glow stick and detached her harness from the winch. She spoke in the radio, “Alright, I’m at the bottom. How far down am I?”

“About 150 meters. It’s a good thing you got there, we were almost to the end of the cable!” Navi responded on the radio, “What do you see?”

“Not a whole lot. You’ll see when you get down.”

“Thanks.” Midna called over the radio.

Sheik, Tatl, and finally Navi all came one by one down the long, dark hole into the room where Link stood. It was not much larger than a small bedroom, or a large closet. All four walls were rough, wet stone with few markings whatsoever. Link instructed each of them to inspect the walls for any signs of a false wall, a passageway, a crack, anything. All four of them searched, their glow sticks inches away from the wall, hoping to find something. Anything.

After several agonizing moments, and several false positives, (“Hey, prof, is this something? How about this? This crack?”), Sheik called for Link. Sheik pointed to three marble sized holes in the stone, at about knee height and near the corner of the room. Link hummed and rubbed her chin. These markings seemed to be manmade, rather than a result of natural processes or the makeup of the rock. They were also located in an area that could have been easily overlooked, low to the ground and by a corner. As link felt them with her fingertips, she felt that the holes weren’t exactly round. They were carved into specific shapes, and Link thought she recognized them.

“Sheik, I think it’s time. I think this is it,” Link whispered.

“What is it? Time for what?” Tatl asked, overhearing the hushed conversation, which echoed throughout the small stone room.

Link groaned as Sheik wordlessly retrieved the Sheikah’s key, opened the metal briefcase, and retrieved the Spiritual Stones from the hidden compartment.

“What are those?” Navi asked, pointing to the ruby, “That’s the symbol of the Mount Doom Gorons. Why do you have that?”

“These, are the key to get where we’re going,” Link took the shining gems from Sheik, “I hope.” Carefully, she inserted the Kokiri Emerald into the leftmost hole. It fit into place like a puzzle piece, stopping with a light _click._ She repeated the process with the Goron’s Ruby and the Zora’s Saphire. Once each stone was in place, the team heard a series of clicks and bangs from behind the cold stonewall, which was followed by a soft glow behind the stones. The glow then spread, and formed four small horizontal lines, three dots to the right of the stones, and a swirling design to the left.

“That looks like music.” Link said.

“Yeah, but there are only four lines. Musical staffs have five.” Tatl noted.

“Other civilizations have used all sorts of kinds of musical notation throughout history. And here, in Hyrule, the five line approach was only standardized about 500 years ago.” Navi informed him.

Tatl took pictures of the glowing musical staff with his phone to document the event. “Well, do we know anyone who can read this type of music?”

“I can.” Link said, looking to Sheik and holding out her hand.

“You can? Seriously?”

“Yeah.” Link took the ocarina and crossed her legs, finding a comfortable way to sit on the ground in front of the glowing symbols, “I’ve never done it before, but I’ve read books on the subject. It’s pretty easy to translate once you know how.”

“How come no one has asked how the wall is glowing?” Tatl asked to, apparently, no one.

Link held the ocarina gingerly in her hands. She covered the appropriate holes with her fingertips, brought the cold instrument to her lips, and blew.

Even with its age, the ocarina’s sound was heavenly. With the first sound of the ocarina, more lines and notes appeared after the original ones. Link shrugged at the new notes, and started to play the song. Though choppy, as it was Link’s first time to read this piece, the music was a haunting. It was slow, mournful, and deliberate. After a few bars, the music trailed off in one last reverberating note and Link pulled the ocarina from her lips.

A few heavy seconds passed, and the team anxiously looked around them for any sign of change. Tatl was the first to break the silence, “So…now what?”

Without further warning, sounds of groaning earth, rock, and steel echoed around them. Dust, which had found it’s way into the crevices of the rock ceiling poured down onto their heads. Midna’s voice poured through the radio, “What the hell is happening down there? Tatl? Tatl are you alright?”

“Yeah, I think we’re fine.” Tatl shouted into the radio as the floor shook below them.

The wall which had the Stones embedded in it began to slide upward. The wall, which the team could now see was 2 solid feet of stone, rose into the ceiling, revealing a large, cathedralesque chamber.

It wasn’t until the grumbling and the ground stopped shaking that the team was able to find their footing and experience what had happened before them. On the other side of the door was an enormous octagonal room. The walls towered over the team, higher than any cathedral they’d ever seen. The gothic arches that topped the walls met in a point over the center of the chamber, and a large stained glass window let in a single, strong sunbeam that illuminated the entire chamber. (This last fact was odd, considering the chamber was underground.)

“Where’s that light coming from?” Link asked.

“There’s a temple in the Gerudo Desert that uses a system of mirrors to illuminate the interior chambers. It could be that a similar system is used here.”

The team walked, too awestruck to speak, toward the center of the room. In the center of the temple was a raised platform, on which stood a sword stuck in a stone pedestal.

“Is that it?” Link asked, speaking softly, as if worried she would scare it away, “Is that the Master Sword?”

No one spoke. There were no tears or shouts of joy. There was only a stunned silence as the team moved toward the hexagonal platform in the center of the room.

The master sword was different than they’d imagined. Accounts on its appearance had changed from account to account, but they had imagined something more…impressive. The sword was smaller than they imagined, requiring only one hand to hold. The hilt wasn’t golden or intricately decorated. The pommel, grip, and hilt was made of some sort of purple metal. The crossguard reminded Link of the eagle wings on the Hyrule Royal Crest. She wondered to herself, which came first, the sword or the crest.

Midna interrupted the silence, “Co..nyone ther…hello? Tat…lright?”

Link shook her head, “Right. Sheik, check the room for traps. Navi, Tatl, I’m going to let Midna know we haven’t died, and then ask her to send down our equipment. We’re going to document this thoroughly, “ She started walking back to the entrance of the chamber, but stopped and turned, “And Navi, this is our history books moment.”

Link walked back into the cave like room just outside the chamber. Sheik immediately walked up the stairs of the platform to the sword and wordlessly inspected the area around it. Navi and Tatl stood, frozen, at the foot of the platform’s stairs.

“Can you believe it?” Navi asked.

“No. I can’t.” Tatl said as Sheik gave a thumbs up, and hopped off the platform and began to inspect the wall underneath the window. “I owe Midna five rupees.” He walked up the steps to the sword’s pedestal and knelt down beside it. Tatl felt the cheek of the blade, running his hands up the smooth, oddly warm metal from the pedestal to the Triforce emblem etched near the hilt.

“Tatl,” Navi interrupted him but making no move to stop him.

Tatl’s fingers moved up the hilt and to the handle. As he stood, he gripped the handle and began to pull. He tried to pull the sword out of the stone, but it didn’t budge. He pulled with all his might, trying to grip the small handle with both hands. Navi watched as Tatl fruitlessly tried to free the sword. Tatl started to groan as he summoned all his strength to…

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?” Link stormed into the room. As her voice, both Tatl and Navi jumped and spun to face her.

“I…uh…I don’t….” Tatl rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands and stepped back, away from the sword.

Link marched past a dumbstruck Navi and up the stairs of the platform. She inserted herself between the sword and Tatl. She poked Tatl in the chest as she spoke, “What the Hell were you thinking?”

“I didn’t…”

“You’re damn right you didn’t!” She placed a gloved hand lightly on the handle of the sword, “This is a priceless artifact! An _ancient_ priceless artifact! Who knows what kind of damage you could have done to it! You’re a professional, damn it! We don’t just _yank_ …”

Link imitated a pulling motion with her hand, which was still lightly wrapped around the handle. With no effort at all, the sword followed her hand out of the pedestal and into the free air. Link looked at her hand, now holding the sword, “…huh…”


	7. Fi

** Chapter 7: Fi **

****

Link pushed herself off the warm, soft ground. Her vision was blurry, and her muscles ached.

“Ugh. What happened? Navi, wha…” She rubbed her eyes with her finger and thumb and looked up; she saw no one, nor did she recognize where she was. She stood on a floating rock. It was flat and grassy on the top, and was as wide as a bus. The sky around her, and below her, was filled with clouds that glowed a brilliant orange and lavender. Rocks, both smaller and bigger than Link’s floated across the horizon, and faded into the clouds. As she spun around, she saw more floating islands, more clouds, and more sky.

Questions flooded into her mind, as well as out of her mouth, “Where am I? Where are Tatl and Navi? What happened?” She closed her eyes rubbed her forehead with her fingertips, searching her memory for some missing moment.

“Hello, Master Link.” A feminine, robotic voice interrupted her thought process. It sounded as if it came from behind her on the rock.

Link spun around and held up her hands in fists in front of her, ready to punch. “Who said that?” she demanded of the empty island. She saw no other figure at all. However, she now saw her hands for the first time, she had to examine what she was wearing.

She wore fingerless leather gauntlets on her hands and forearms. Each gauntlet featured a leather plate with an intricately carved floral design. When she looked down, she saw her feet and shins were covered with brown boots and grieves with a similar design as the gauntlets. Her clothes were gone, replaced by several layers: A green tunic on top, heavy chain mail, and a soft white linen set of pants and long sleeve shirt. Over the tunic, she felt tough leather pauldrons and plates wrapping around her triceps. She saw a strap traveling down her body from her left shoulder to her right side. She brought her arm around the shoulder strap and felt a sword behind her. She wondered how she hadn’t noticed all the extra weight when she woke up. However, since she was standing on an island floating in the sky, she decided to give herself a break.

“My analysis suggests you are apprehensive. Is there anything I can do to make your experience easier?”

Link spun around and unsheathed the Master Sword in one fluid motion. She held the sword forward in one hand, pointing to the source of the voice: a shiny, floating, blue and purple woman. Her hair, eyes, lips, and skin were all the same pale blue color, and her arms were hidden under a blue and purple cape, fastened in the front with a large blue jewel. Under the cloak, Link could see a short purple dress and black and green leggings.

“Who the hell are you? Where am I?”

“We are in the Sacred Realm.” The figure said without feeling.

“The Sacred Realm?”

“Affirmative. The Sacred Realm is a world parallel to you own, where the Goddess Hy…”

“Yeah, I know what it is. It’s a myth.”

“Is you’re presence here not evidence to the contrary?”

Link’s stance wavered slightly. She hated to admit it, but the magic floating robot lady had a little bit of a point, “How do I know that I haven’t passed out? That I’m not unconscious on the stone floor of a temple hallucinating? The temple with the sword could have been booby-trapped: gas or a dart or something.”

“Your assertion is not entirely incorrect. A part of you is still in the Temple of Time.”

“Temple of Time?”

“The resting place of the Goddess’ Master Sword.”

Link started to lower her sword, “I thought it was destroyed? Eroded away? This was underground.”

“The Temple of Time was not destroyed. It was moved underground almost three centuries ago.” The robot floated forward slowly, “As for my personal designation, you may call me Fi. I was the spirit of the Master Sword. I assisted the first Hero of Legend, and I have been partially resurrected to aid you now.”

“Resurrected? By whom?”

“The Sages of Hyrule.”

“Sages, huh?” Link chuckled and lowered her sword, “Let the forest sage know her temple was infested with Stalfos.”

Fi paused, averted her gaze for a moment, and looked back at Link, “She is laughing. She says that she is not unaccustomed to Stalfos in her temple, but thanks you for your concern.”

Link groaned and brought her sword up as she took two steps closer to the spirit…robot…whatever, “I’ve had enough.” She marched up to Fi, “I don’t care who you are; I don’t care where we are. Tell me how to get back!” Link paused, “And what the hell happened to my clothes?”

“In order to enter the Sacred Realm, one cannot enter in their physical form. The body you see now is your spiritual form.”

“My spiritual form is a Kokiri wannabe?”

“The green tunic and Phrygian cap are the dress of the Goddess’ Chosen Hero.”

“…what?” Link did not waver. She kept her sword pointed straight ahead, between Fi and herself. She did bring her other hand up to her head and felt the stupid hat that she hadn’t noticed was drooping off the back of her head.

“I will not harm you, Master.”

“Why are you calling me Master?” Link demanded.

“I serve the Goddess Hylia’s chosen hero. As you are that hero, you are my master.”

“I’m no one’s hero.”

“Not possible. The Master Sword would not allow you to wield it if you were not.”

“But, why…”

“Verbal communication is proving ineffective and time is short. Master, instead of asking questions, perhaps you would benefit from a more direct approach?” Fi landed to approach Link at a slow, deliberate pace.

“What do you mean?”

“Sheath your sword, and I can show you everything you need.”

Apprehensively, Link slowly lowered her sword. After a moment’s pause, she raised it again, brought it above her head, and sheathed it behind her. Fi walked within arm’s reach of Link and gave her a smile. At least, Link thought it was a smile, it was hard to tell on Fi’s metallic countenance what expression it was giving. Fi brought her hands to Link’s cheeks, and nodded.

Without warning, Fi, the clouds, and the floating islands disappeared and all around her was a crushing blackness.

Fi’s voice echoed in her mind, “Thousands of years ago, the Master Sword was created. The Goddess Hylia chose a hero, a young man from her favorite civilization.” As Fi spoke, the blackness was replaced with images and sounds from a place Link did not recognize. She saw in this ancient place a hero in green, no older than her youngest students. Fi continued, “This hero used the sword to stop a powerful demon from destroying the world under his devastating rule.”

Link saw this hero fighting against a creature that resembled a large, black mountain with a toothy mouth. He was agile. He seemed to be able to fly from attack to attack as he kept the giant monster at bay as it tried to climb a deep valley. The world around her dissolved; the grassy valley became a wide, magical plane with a ground covered with shining, reflective water. She saw the hero fighting a large man with scales growing out of his arms and long flames for hair.

Fi’s voice continued, “Although this hero was victorious, this was not the end of the demon, but the beginning of a cycle. A cycle of hate, war, and peace continued throughout the history of a newly reunited Hyrule.”

Suddenly, there were a thousand images and sounds and songs surrounding Link. She saw heroes in green over and over, fighting monsters, protecting cities and villages, and discovering lost dungeons. Most of them had the sword that was now strapped to her back.

“These heroes form a lineage. Not a lineage of blood, but a lineage of spirit. These heroes are your ancestors, and you have been called to continue their mission.”

“I don’t understand,” Link managed to speak, “These stories: the Hero of Time, the Hero of Legend, they’re all fairy tales. There’s no physical evidence to support that they existed. Why haven’t we found anything about them before?”

“This cycle existed in part due to the nature of magic. Those who threatened peace, the demons and sorcerers who sought to take power for themselves, were imprisoned in other realms through the use of magic. However, this magic’s power wanes over time, and the imprisoned found ways to escape their incarceration and continue their campaigns of violence. For centuries, these…problems…were addressed as they arrived. Those charged with protecting Hyrule from these threats deemed this cycle inefficient. Two hundred seventy-three years and 97 days ago, Princess Zelda, your eleventh great grandmother, devised a solution.”

Link saw a woman about her age wearing a purple and white sack-back gown approach a large temple. She drew a chalk circle on the ground, and then enclosed a chalk Triforce symbol within it. She stood in the middle of the design and began to chant to herself.

Fi continued, “She cast a spell. One spell, that sealed away not only those who sought to do harm to Hyrule, but all magic. She believed that, when all magic is locked away, those imprisoned would not be able to escape.” The woman raised her arms as the chalk circle glowed. Soon, her eyes, mouth, hair, and hands began to glow as well. The temple before her began to rumble, and sink into the earth. “She rewrote the world. A world that was founded on magic became one of science and physics. People’s memories were rewritten so they no longer remembered using magic. All ties between the world and magic were severed completely. It was a massive undertaking, and was too much for one person to bear.” The woman stopped glowing, and fell down into a lifeless heap. “She died casting this spell.”

“Did it work?” Link asked, the image of the woman on the ground and the empty block in front of her where a temple once stood faded away, replaced with Fi, the golden sky, and floating islands. Fi removed her hands from Link’s cheeks.

She nodded, “Until now, affirmative. The spell worked. The cycle stopped.”

“Until now?”

Fi floated away from Link to the edge of the island. She looked out to the eternal sky, “Yes. The Master Sword is an item of immense magical potential. When you dislodged it, the foundation of the spell cracked. The seals that kept Hyrule’s most evil at bay may have broken.

“If it’s that important, then why was it so damn easy to pull it out?” Link insisted.

“If anyone else attempted to pull the sword, they would find it impossible. In an attempt to dissuade you from attempting it, the sword called out to your assistant. We were under the impression that if you saw him fail to free the sword you would make no attempt.”

“And then I did it on accident.”

“Precisely.”

Link knelt down, putting her head in her hands, “So, even if Zant had found the Master Sword, he wouldn’t have been able to free it?”

“Affirmative.”

Link groaned, trying to think. Did Zant know this? Did Zant know about the spell? Or was he merely trying to collect artifacts? And _how was she supposed to get out of here?_

“I need to get back.” Link asked without asking.

“As I said before, what you are seeing now is merely your spiritual form. Your physical form is where you left it, unless your assistants have moved you.”

“So, when I wake up I’ll just be back.”

“You will wake up when I send you back.” Fi corrected her.

“Then send me back.” Link demanded.

“I will, but first, the Sages and the Goddesses have a request.”

Link stood and turned to face Fi, who’s voice showed an urgency absent from her robotic face. Fi continued, “We need you to find and destroy an artifact.”

“Okay, where is it?”

Fi paused, “We do not know. The spell that cut off the world’s access to magic also reduced our ability to see into the physical world.”

“Fine, well, what is it?”

“It is a sword. A very…dangerous sword. If discovered and unleashed, it can lead to terrible suffering.”

“Okay. Anything else?”

“It is called Ghirahim.   He is my brother.”


	8. The King of Thieves

** Chapter 8: The King of Thieves **

Ganondorf appeared on a road with a brilliant flash of light and a loud bang. Nauseated and disoriented, he pushed himself off his stomach onto his hands and knees, then to his feet.

Once on his feet, he inspected his surroundings: He was surrounded by a large green plain, spotted by the shadows of clouds from the late morning sun, which was just starting to peek through the cloud cover. The only noteworthy landmark, besides the odd tree here and there, was the road. Everything road was unfamiliar to him. It was made primarily of a black rock-like material, but he could see tiny cobblestones speckling the surface. For some reason, thick stripes were painted on the edges of the road, with striped lines running down the middle. Ganondorf didn’t know the significance of the lines, but he did not much care.

He needed to get to the castle: Hyrule Castle. He wasn’t sure if he was in Hyrule, but this did look like Hyrule Field. It was greener than he remembered, but he wasn’t sure how long he had been sealed away. He needed to get to the castle.

Roads connect cities and villages. This is the purpose of roads. Ganondorf decided the best way to find out where he was, how to get to the castle, would be to walk down the road. All he had to do was pick a direction. He saw a red chariot approaching him on the road in the distance. The decision was made.

A short time passed before the chariot came to a screeching halt before Ganondorf. The screeching sound surprised Ganondorf, as did the speed at which the chariot reached him. It was unlike any chariot Ganondorf had ever seen. Firstly, there was no animal pulling it. The coach itself made a growling noise, and the wheels were hidden underneath it rather than to its sides. As it screeched and halted, it made a loud honking noise, and a man poked his head out of the window of the coach’s door.

The man yelled, “What the fuck man? Get the hell out of the road!”

Ganondorf calmly responded, “To where does this road lead?”

“What?”

“This road. To where does it lead?”

The man looked stunned. This imbecile was beginning to annoy Ganondorf, who strengthened his stance, and made sure to square his shoulders with the man. The man spoke and pointed in the direction the coach was traveling, “Well, that way is Hyrule City…”

“And the castle?”

Ganondorf’s directness was setting the man off balance, “uh…yeah…the castle is there. About a hundred miles.”

Ganondorf nodded, “I require passage to the castle.”

The man furrowed his brow, “What? Too fucking bad. Call a cab.” The window started to raise up from the door of the coach. Ganondorf walked to the door of the chariot and grabbed the door handle. With a short jerk of his arm, Ganondorf ripped the door from its hinges.

“WHAT THE FUCK?” The man yelled as Ganondorf pulled him out of the chariot and held him by the lapel of his jacket.

“I do not repeat myself often. I require passage to the castle.” The man was dumbstruck, his feet dangled several inches above the road. Ganondorf grew tired of waiting for the man to respond, “If you will not provide transport, you will provide your vehicle.” With one small motion, Ganondorf tossed the man aside; the man flew to the other side of the road, hit the ground with an, “oof,” and struggled on the ground.

Ganondorf sat in the seat of the chariot in which the man was previously sitting. Before him was a soft leather wheel, gages using symbols he did not recognize, and several buttons and knobs. With no animals, how was one supposed to control the chariot? Perhaps it is magic. Ganondorf concentrated on his desired destination. The chariot did not move.

He then noticed three pedals on the floor. He pushed the leftmost one: nothing happened. He tried the center one, again: nothing happened. He tried the rightmost one: the vehicle growled loudly, but did not move. Ganondorf saw a stick with symbols beside his seat. He tried moving it around, and the vehicle jerked forward and stopped growling.

Ganondorf groaned, and pulled himself out of the small sitting area. He walked across the street, grabbed the chariot’s operator from the ground, and pulled him up. He dragged him across the street and thrust him against the chariot and began to speak. He was cut off by the scared, bleeding man, “Yeah, yeah, the castle. Sure. Whatever you say.”

Ganondorf let go of the man, and he fell to his knees. As he pulled himself to his feet and into the operator’s seat Ganondorf walked around the chariot to the door on the other side. He opened the door, managing to keep it on this time. He sat in the small, cushioned chair and closed the door. The man performed some operations with his hands and feet and the chariot started to hum and move.

A long time passed as they traveled to the castle, but not nearly as long as Ganondorf had expected. The trip was primarily wordless. The wind pouring in from the hole where the operator’s door was now missing roared into the cabin. Ganondorf’s large frame and heavy leather armor made sitting in the small area uncomfortable, but he was feeling something. He was no longer locked away in some other realm. He was breathing again. Feeling again. His hamstrings were cramping again. He enjoyed it.

As the chariot drove on, the city started to come into view. Large rectangular and spired buildings towered over the horizon. They grew. They grew and grew as the chariot approached. They were taller than any castle or mountain Ganondorf had ever seen. As they drove through the city, Ganondorf felt as if he was being crushed. It was disconcerting.

Ganondorf also noticed how many chariots clogged the streets of the city. In the field, they were few and far between. In the city, they were everywhere. They started and stopped constantly, controlled by strange tricolored lights. Everything in this city looked different to Ganondorf: the symbols of the language, the architecture of the city, the types of magic used (which seemed to be focused on producing light and moving chariots.) Even the smell of the city had changed. The smell was terrible. The air was stale, and spoiled, and warm. Ganondorf hated it.

The car stopped on the side of a street. The man spoke, “This is as close as I can get. I’m sorry.” He was nervous and skittish. Ganondorf was used to this behavior from people. It annoyed him.

Ganondorf left the vehicle and looked around him. He recognized parts of the city that he now saw. The large buildings still towered over him, but a block away he could see the old familiar stone gates that used to guard the castle grounds. Now, the stone arch was little more than a façade, standing with no fence under it. Ganondorf took a step away from the red vehicle and slammed the door shut. He heard a screeching sound as the car quickly zoomed away. He paid it no mind. He had something to do.

The ever-present city did not encroach past the original boundaries of the castle grounds. This refreshed Ganondorf in a way he did not expect. A large grassy area stood between him and the castle. He noticed a crowd of people walking to the castle, most of whom only came up to his shoulders. As the castle grew closer, he noticed that the castle looked eerily similar to what he remembered. It had been maintained since he had seen it, updated, but great effort had been made to ensure that the basic aesthetics of the castle remained in tact.

As Ganondorf reached the large open doors of the castle, he wondered what was going on around him. The doors were open. The crowd of people, now standing shoulder to shoulder, was filing into the castle. Last he saw the castle, this would have been forbidden. All those who approached the castle in such a way would be turned away, or attacked, by castle guards. (He at least assumed that they were guards. They didn’t wear the standard armor, but a black uniform with a small metal badge, some pouches, and large black pouches on their belts). They were inviting them inside. He wondered why he specifically wasn’t stopped. Surely the guards knew of him. They knew why he was there. He decided to move with the crowd until the last possible moment. In that moment, the moment when the guards recognize him and try to stop him, he will strike.

Just inside the doors, he stood in a long queue, though the people around him skittishly gave him ample space in which to stand. As the queue advanced he walked by a flimsy table, on which castle guards went through people’s bags and personal belongings. They viewed Ganondorf with some suspicion, but ultimately ignored him. Soon after, he was invited to walk through a small, rectangular arch made of metal. Another guard, a woman this time, summoned him to walk through, looking just over his head at the top of the arch. As he walked through, the arch made a shrill chirping sound.

“Hold up.” The guard stopped him with her hand. Ganondorf tensed, ready for combat. The woman continued, “Do you have any metal on you? Keys? Is there metal in your…” she looked at his armor, “…costume?”

Ganondorf wordlessly pointed to the ornate metal headdress interwoven in his red dreadlocks. The woman sighed, “This way.” She gestured for him to step beside the queue and gestured a small baton around his body. It chirped when presented with his forehead, but nowhere else. “You’re good,” the guardswoman said and pointed into the castle with her thumb.

Surprised at the pointless ritual and the ineptitude of the castle guard, Ganondorf continued into the castle. Would he really get into the great hall without incident? Surely, he cannot be that fortunate.

Not long after passing the guard, Ganondorf entered the great hall of the castle. The room was filled with people. Some stood on tall scaffolding near the entrance of the hall besides large black machines. Others crowded on the floor below, some filed into one of a few rows of flimsy chairs made of some material Ganondorf did not recognize. Ganondorf chose to stand.

The chairs pointed toward a stage. Standing in the center of the stage was a translucent podium with small black objects rising out of it. On the front of the podium, in what looked like etched glass, was the Hyrule royal crest, which was all too familiar to Ganondorf. He recognized the Eagle. He recognized the Triforce.

Behind the stage was a large magic tapestry. The tapestry glowed with an ever-moving purple pattern, like a silk flag in the wind, and the words “PRINCESS ZELDA ADDRESS TO THE KINGDOM” in a blocky white script. Below the words were numbers: a clock counting down. At this moment, the numbers read, “1:18:43.”

It couldn’t be this easy, could it? The Princess has grown careless in his absence. All Ganondorf need do is strike when she began to speak. He scanned the room for armed guards, but he found none. He could find no people wielding weapons or wearing armor, though he wondered if this was because there were no armed guards or if the nature of combat had changed so drastically that such tools are not necessary.

He did not ponder for long before hearing a long series of pops and bangs coming from the doors where he entered. He turned to see men in bulky black uniforms pointing black objects at the guards whom he passed. Some guards pointed their own black objects at the men, others lay on the ground in heaps of blood. Around him, Ganondorf heard people scream and cry. He saw some people collapse to the floor, hiding behind whatever they could find. He stood.

The doors to the hall started to close and there were more popping and banging sounds around him. The people in black equipment were soundly defeating the guards, as Ganondorf had predicted. The pops and bangs slowed to a stop, and all Ganondorf could hear were people screaming and crying. A man in bulky black equipment came up to Ganondorf and pointed the black object at him, “GET ON THE GROUND, NOW!”

Ganondorf met the gaze of the man. What should he do? Should he make his move now? It seemed that someone was beating him to the punch. Perhaps, as he was alone, it would be most practical for these would-be usurpers to run their campaign. They and the regime would weaken one another and then he would reveal himself. Ganondorf couldn’t help but smirk as he sat on the floor.

The people in black patrolled the crowd, who were all now sitting on the floor. Before long, a thin old man marched confidently onto the stage. He wore an oversized black robe with green trim and finger-like tassels dangling from the long sleeves. He was followed by group of men and women wearing studded leather and skull masks. One carried a large black case.

“Good people of Hyrule,” he began, speaking lightheartedly and confidently, “My name is Aleyn Zant, and I have exciting news. The Zelda regime has ruled Hyrule as it sees fit for centuries, uninterrupted and unchallenged.” Ganondorf snarled at the assertion that Zelda’s regime had gone unchallenged.

“They have shunned the progression of time, and have cemented us in the rituals and the outdated values of the past. Our economy is stagnant, our military pathetic. I am here, with the help of my friends and family, to announce a new way. A way forward. The people of this country deserve better. Hyrule deserves better. I will give them better.

“Today, I am announcing that the era of Zelda is over.” There were whimpers and cries in the crowd, “I, personally, will bring this great country into the future. I will lead this world through the strength we should poses, not by begging and spending as this regime has done.  Hyrule will exemplify strength. I will exemplify strength. And we will all be stronger for it.” The man paused, nodded, and started to walk away from podium. Loud bangs and pops started to come from outside. Squeaks and cries came from the people on the floor, and confident laughter came from Zant and the other captors. Zant made his way to the woman holding the case, who presented it to him.

Ganondorf’s slow clapping filled the room. It echoed all round him. The people on the floor turned to him, many with tears in their eyes and all with expressions of fear. The people in black started to come to him, and Zant turned to him. Ganondorf stood, still clapping, “A rousing speech. Zant. I wonder if there is a connection.”

“Get on the floor, now!” A man in black equipment came to Ganondorf, pointing the black object at him. With a flick of his arm, Ganondorf hit the man in the chest, and he flew across the hall, coming to a sudden halt when he slammed against a stone column. Other people in black equipment started to converge on him.

“Wait., Zant interrupted, still not looking up from the case, “let him speak.” The captors backed down.

Ganondorf approached the stage, stepping over people as he walked. They looked up at him, confused. Who was he? Why is this man, this terrorist, letting him speak?

“I…” Ganondorf searched for the right word, “appreciate your vigor. No doubt this show of coup took a great deal of planning and effort: The surprising nature of the attack, the overt show of force, the rousing, if not brief, speech. Masterful. You not only ceased power, you did so in front of the Kingdom. You even invented a justification for your treason. Simply Masterful. The only thing I would have done differently, is execute Princess Zelda on stage for all to see.” At this, Ganondorf heard audible gasps from the people on the floor. He stopped approaching, as he was now standing just before the stage. He continued, “Tell me, where is the princess?”

There was a heavy silence. Zant’s nonchalant smile melted away as looked up from the case for the first time, “The princess has been dealt with.”

“I’m sure.”

“Do you recognize me, Ganondorf? I recognize you.” Zant unlatched and opened the case.

Ganondorf’s stance slightly wavered. If the crowd and castle guard did not recognize him, he assumed no one would. Further, he had never seen this person before. He had been imprisoned for hundreds of years, when would he have seen this man?

“I knew a Zant once. Many years ago. He was weak: pathetic usurper king who sought to borrow power and call it his own. It was his undoing.”

Zant chuckled and reached into the case. After he touched what he was reaching for in the case, he took in a deep, almost orgasmic breath. He opened his eyes, which almost seemed to glow, he turned his head to face Ganondorf, “These ironic words will be your last, Gerudo.”

Ganondorf raised his hand and pointed his palm at the old man. Soon…nothing happened. He tensed his arm and hand. Nothing happened. He brought is palm back and inspected his hand. He thrust it toward Zant. Nothing happened.

“Having trouble?” Zant chuckled. He brought his arm out of the case, producing a large sword with a wide, black, barbed blade. With one swing, he demolished the clear podium, smashing it into many small pieces. He swung the sword again and pointed it at the black equipment at the back of the room. A hot, dense blackness shot out from the sword to the equipment, causing sparks and explosions. He pointed the sword at Ganondorf.

“Still not recognizing me?” Zant asked an imoble, mute Ganondorf. He dropped his arm and held out his other hand. As if grabbed by his neck, Ganondorf started to raise into the air. Soon, he was higher than the stage. Zant’s voice grew deeper, and carried a supernatural reverberation. “Several centuries ago, you called out to me. You asked me for power. I granted you this power, and in exchange you were to help me in my revenge. You failed me.”

Ganondorf floated closer to Zant. Soon, he hovered above the stage, just before Zant.

Zant continued, “No, you did not fail me. You were defeated. By children.” Ganondorf grunted, as if in great pain

Zant gestured to himself, “This man, this Zant, called out to me. He wanted power. The power to defeat those who opposed him. I wanted what was denied me for so long. I made a new pact. Through his body, I would exact my own vengeance, and those who stood in my way would suffer. This includes you, King of Thieves.”

Ganondorf grunted again. Zant continued, “I will be the Demise of this world, and no Triforce, no goddess will stop me. Now, my faithful emissary, die.”

Zant shot his arm forward, and Ganondorf flew back.


End file.
